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(Alright everyone I'd like to state that this isn't my story. It's written entirely by Zerrex Narrius. The entire 1100 page epic can be downloaded at Epiphany. I shall post 10 parts in all each approximately 100 pages long. Please direct all praise to Zerrex and not me. Alright this series is markes as extreme, if ya are under 18/21 GTFO yadda yadda yadda, NOW on with the show.)

The horse was wearing a deep velvet-blue top hat on its head, with a matching, long-tailed petticoat, a puffy red cravat at his neck just visible over his shoulder. His rubbery-looking skin was deep black, and his irises were bright white, legs clad in purple pantaloons tied tight at each ankle by bright red ribbons, and the hooves he had in place of feet had rubbery shoes stuck to the bottom of them. His long tail flicked once, thick black hairs held together at the base by another neat red ribbon, and a final bow was tied around the long black ponytail that hung just below his top hat.

He slowly swiveled around on his foot, the Drakkaren able to see that the petticoat hung open at the front to reveal the black silk shirt beneath, and he slowly rose a white gloved hand to his muzzle, one finger raised as he shushed the two, then swiveled on the spot to once more face the library archway. Zerrex gaped as Maria squeezed his fingers tightly, and the horse stared over his shoulder at them with wide, comical eyes as he began to slowly bring his raised leg down... and the moment his hoof touched the floor, he broke into a sprint, grabbing his top hat with both hands to keep it firmly against his skull as he squealed in fear.

The reptile gave in to his first instinct, charging after the horse's back with grit teeth despite the fact he well-recognized the equine could only be one thing: a Broken. Only Broken could travel freely through the Unworld, only Broken could access the Unworld Manse... and the reptile skidded around the corner as the horse shot into the shelves, the lizard charging towards this... then looking up in shock as the horse emerged from between another row of shelves some dozen feet away, then he winced and flailed his arms wildly as Zerrex ran down the shelving units towards him, charging back between the rows.

Zerrex skidded to a halt and glared down the aisle the horse had disappeared into, but he was gone... and then the Drakkaren stared in shock as the horse emerged from between the furthest row of shelves, wheezing loudly. The lizard gritted his teeth, but the horse squeaked when he saw the lizard, running quickly down the aisles before ducking into another row as the Drakkaren started towards him... and then the reptile winced as he felt something behind him, slowly looking over his shoulder to see the equine tiptoeing carefully out from between the rows of books behind him, hands raised in front of himself, walking on the very tips of his hooves.

The lizard turned around and put his hands on his waist, and the horse shrunk his head between his shoulders before his head creakily turned to stare, wide-eyed, at the reptile... and Zerrex's hand snatched out, seizing the horse by the collar of his petticoat, and he wailed in dismay as the reptile hauled the six foot tall equine backwards even as the hooves of the Broken kicked at the floor and he stretched his arms out in front of himself, trying vainly to run away and only scraping deep marks in the hardwood floor of the library.

Zerrex grimaced, feeling the coat beginning to tear and reaching up to grab the horse's shoulder... but the equine suddenly turned and bit his wrist firmly, and the reptile cursed as he let go to grab at his arm, snarling in shock more than pain. Immediately, the Broken seized his top hat with both hands and barreled towards the archway leading into the entrance hall, but Maria stepped into his way and the horse rammed into her before sprawling backwards over the floor with a grunt, looking stupidly up at the female.

The Drakkaren glared at the equine as he stormed forwards, and then he stopped when the horse blinked rapidly on the ground, before the Broken leapt to his feet as he leaned in close towards Maria when she only raised her hands peacefully, beginning to prance around her as he muttered: "I know you, I know I know you, I know you don't I? Yes, yes, yes, I know you, I know you indeed, don't I know you? I know you..."

He paused, assumed a thinking pose, and then he snapped his fingers, his features becoming cheerful as he said warmly: "Serviteur! The female who came by with that talkative Mersault... yes, yes, how are you, how are you darling? I was so very sorry when I felt the poor philosopher's energies give out... you have my deepest condolences, dearest."

He took her hand gently in both his own, squeezing lightly, and Maria winced before she said quietly: "Thank you, Theophilius, but I go by Maria now-"

"Then you are not Serviteur at all!" Immediately the horse leapt backwards, grabbing at his top hat and looking at her with horror before he spun around and tried to run away, and this time smacked into Zerrex and once more fell backwards, the reptile wincing a bit at the impact and looking moodily but warily down at the Broken. But Maria only sighed, rubbing at her face slowly as the horse flailed his limbs on the ground, then suddenly froze up as a loud ringing filled the air.

He pulled his petticoat open, looking down at a cracked silver pocketwatch that hung on a slender chain from the inside of the coat, and a moment later he was on his feet, Zerrex wincing backwards as the horse threw an arm into the air and howled: "Tea time! It's time for tea!"

And, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, he immediately turned and walked calmly past Maria as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a large square of cloth, stopping in the empty space of the archway and humming absently as he unfolded it. It was a long, rectangular tablecloth, slate-gray in color... and with an easy snap of the wrists, the Broken waved it outwards, the wrinkles vanishing from it before he flicked it up as if putting it overtop something... and when it settled, the cloth floated eerily in the air, the edges of it hanging down as if it was covering a long, rectangular table. Zerrex gaped at this, then stared as the horse danced around the cloth, straightening it neatly before he reached inside his coat and began to toss items from nowhere out over it, saucers, teacups, a kettle and several baskets all landing atop the cloth with loud clanks as if there was really wood beneath it, and Zerrex realized a moment later they were also all landing in perfect positions around the table, before the Broken halted at the head of the floating tablecloth, stroked beneath his muzzle thoughtfully, and then snapped his fingers before he reached into his pocket... and pulled out a long, slender vase, tossing this absently outwards.

It spun through the air, then landed neatly in the middle of the table before the Broken rubbed his hands together with a smile, miming pulling a chair out... and Zerrex heard the sound of wood scraping against wood before the horse stepped carefully around the invisible furnishing and sat down in it. He wiggled his butt forwards as he dragged his feet carefully against the ground, and the reptile winced at the scraping sounds as he walked slowly around the side of the table, looking down at the horse... and then staring when the equine crossed one leg over his knee and kicked the other foot lightly, yet still floating eerily in the air as if he really was resting back in a chair as he smiled kindly up at Zerrex. "It's not often I have guests for tea. Do join me, won't you?"

He gestured kindly towards two clearly-marked spots on either side of the middle of the 'table,' both with teacups in front of them sitting on porcelain saucers, a fork and spoon neatly resting on either side of this... and the Drakkaren looked dumbly at Maria as she simply shrugged and sighed a bit, miming pulling a chair out, and then sitting down in it... and looking as surprised as Zerrex felt when she actually seemed to sit in something.

The Drakkaren reached dumbly down into blank space, and he felt his fingers touch something... and he hesitated a moment longer before the Broken looked up at him curiously, and Zerrex smiled awkwardly before he pulled the invisible chair out, wincing a bit as it scraped against the floor before he hesitantly sat down. He could feel something like real wood beneath him, as he reached a hand up to gently rest it on the cloth covering the 'table...' and it was like there was something solid beneath that as well, as the Broken nodded a few times before grabbing at one of the kettles, saying cheerfully: "Help yourselves now, my guests! Why, whatever you like, that's what you'll get!"

He laughed as he poured tea into his cup from the kettle, the amber-brown liquid filling the cup rapidly, and strange, luminescent bubbles floated into the air from this, as the Broken put the kettle back out onto the table and looked into the bubbles, saying seriously: "Bubbly tea is the very best tea, you know, and a sign of good things to come. It's why I never drink my tea while it's bubbling, because if you drink the very best of good things, it can only mean that you'll be left with an empty cup, and that is very, very bad."

Zerrex smiled awkwardly at him as Maria hesitantly picked up one of the kettles, slowly filling her cup... and immediately the Broken looked over at her, saying curiously: "So Maria, if your name is Maria and not Serviteur, and you are not Serviteur but Maria, did you know Mersault at all? I expect you didn't know him at all, if you're Maria and not Serviteur... but that's only an assumption, since I also assume Mersault had many friends other than Serviteur and those nasty, nasty Broken he spent his time with."

"I... knew him very well." Maria said quietly, pouring tea into her cup... and she stared in surprise as not tea, but coffee came out instead, filling the cup and already chestnut, as if it had been mixed with sugar and cream already. And, before Maria could question this, the horse leaned across the table and poked his finger into her cup, swirling it around once, then leaning back and slurping at the digit, smacking his lips loudly as the female stared at him, horrified.

"It needs more sugar!" he exclaimed, slamming his fist against the tabletop, and then he reached into the inside of his coat and tore something free, tossing two small white cubes into the air that plopped loudly into Maria's teacup, and she stared down at the coffee as it rippled before the horse smiled cheerfully, saying kindly: "Now it's far too sweet to be called coffee. Coffee is very bitter, you know, and drinking something very bitter will leave you feeling that yourself. You should only drink sweet things, and stay a sweet young girl. Assuming, of course, that you are a sweet young girl and not a sly old bat, although sly young bats can also be sweet little girls, assuming they are sweet and little and don't drink very much coffee, not very much coffee at all."

Zerrex reached carefully for the kettle as Maria simply looked at the Broken with a stupefied look on her face, the Drakkaren wondering who the hell this male was and if he had gone completely insane after all these years of Unworld exposure... and then those sharp ivory eyes turned to him, watching intently as the Drakkaren carefully poured liquid into his cup... and the reptile was surprised when peppermint tea poured out, the Broken frowning a bit as he rubbed at the underside of his muzzle and muttered: "Now that's a tougher one."

"What do you mean?" the lizard asked, knowing he was going to regret it even as he did so. He put the kettle back as the Broken only looked at him querulously, however, and the lizard grimaced a bit before he reached down to pick up his teacup... and as he lifted it towards his muzzle, the Broken screeched and leaned over the table, slapping it firmly out of his hand.

It bounced against the tabletop, tea splattering everywhere before it fell to the floor and shattered, and the reptile stared in shock before the horse sighed in relief and fell back into his chair, saying kindly: "You should be much more careful, Zerrex, that could have been poisoned! Even worse, it may not have been poisoned, but may have tasted very, very bad! These teacups are disgusting, after all!"

He threw his arms out, then gasped as the bubbles ceased to float up from the cup in front of him, grabbing at his skull and muttering: "I've offended it, oh no, oh gosh." And immediately, he reached both hands down, snapping the cup up and guzzling its contents, tea splashing over his face before one eye slowly peered at the Drakkaren, rivulets of amber liquid rolling down either side of his muzzle as the reptile looked at him curiously.

"How did you know my name? Did Camus ever mention me?" Zerrex tilted his head, and the Broken gasped, and the teacup half-cupped in his hands dropped into his large muzzle and fell towards his throat. Immediately, the Broken began to cough and gag, clutching at his neck, and the Drakkaren winced as Maria stood up... but then the horse hammered hard on his chest and lurched his head forwards, and he spat out not a teacup, but several wet, white doves that fluttered through the air.

Zerrex and Maria both stared in shock... and then the Broken reached up and rubbed at his tongue, mumbling: "Well, that's a very rude question to ask when someone is choking on birds, Zerrex Narrius. And ruder still when you consider the fact you do not know my name at all."

"Maria called you... Theophilius?" Zerrex ventured, and the Broken immediately leapt up to stand on his invisible chair, bowing deeply back and forth to both of them, one arm crossed over his chest and the other holding his top hat onto his skull.

"Theophilius Carter, at your service!" he thundered, his voice echoing through both the library and entrance hall, continuing to bow to them both several more times before he leapt up onto the table and sketched a curtsy, adding quickly: "And I guess it was most rude of me to assume you didn't know my name, then, and why, that changes everything, doesn't it? I suppose that means that yes, I should answer your questions. Assuming, of course, you allow me to ask a few questions in return."

"I... suppose?" Zerrex looked blankly over at Maria, and she shrugged after a moment, smiling awkwardly at him. The lizard began to open his muzzle, but immediately the horse leaned down and shushed him loudly, then grabbed his maw and held it firmly shut as the reptile winced.

"Shush! Maria, who is not Serviteur, wants to tell you something about me! And from the looks of it, something very gossipy and juicy, so I feel like I should listen in and hear for myself. I love to hear gossip about Theophilius, after all, he's such a strange, strange creature." the horse nodded rapidly, then he looked back and forth furtively before he whispered eagerly: "Did you know that he's supposed to be quite older than he looks? Which means, of course, he is very much older than he acts, as he does not even act the way he looks, or look the way he acts!"

Then the equine suddenly straightened, letting go of Zerrex and shoving his hands towards the ceiling as he shouted angrily: "Shut up, Theophilius! Your chatter is making it hard for the poor young lady to speak, and no one wants to hear you gossip about me!"

He fell silent, then cocked his hand, standing calmly on the table as his arms fell to his sides, looking at Maria as she stared and Zerrex slowly leaned backwards in his invisible chair... and then he half-bowed to her, sweeping a hand out and saying gently: "Go ahead now, dear, say what's on your mind."

"I..." Maria swallowed a bit, and the horse leaned in eagerly, but she winced before forcing herself to look across at her father, saying finally: "Theophilius is another Broken that Camus tried to recruit for the Theologians... but he was never very interested in any of what Camus had to say. I don't know why, but Camus was always interested in him... I think you've read about him better in his journals."

"There's stories about me?" Theophilius clasped his hands together, looking absolutely delighted. "Wonderful! I love stories, I do, I do. My friends and I used to tell each other stories all the time, and we used to dance, and dance, and dance..."

The Broken leapt off the table, landing on his chair and bringing one foot up to rest against the back of it before he mimed tipping it forwards as he fell to the ground with a laugh, immediately breaking into a quickstep that carried him back and forth along the entrance hall. Zerrex looked dumbly over at Maria, and she smiled awkwardly at him, saying finally: "I never bothered telling you about him because... well... you see him. He's... a little off-kilter. I didn't even expect him to still be around, to be honest, or that we'd ever see him here... usually he stays in his own little rift, like the few other Broken I've met outside of the Theologians."

The Drakkaren nodded back to her, frowning a bit over at him... and then he murmured softly: "He seems harmless, though... and well, most Broken I've met..."

"I know. I... never really noticed it before myself, though, because... I was so used to Camus." She glanced over at the reptile, smiling a little bit before she shook her head slowly as Theophilius leapt into the air and neatly spun around, landing on his hooves and striking a perfect pose... and then his ankles caught together and he spilled forwards, grunting as he landed on his face with a grimace. "But... yeah. He's... a little strange, but he's never been hostile or anything. Not like some of the other Broken... and this is... this is just the way he always acts. It's not a good phase or a bad phase or anything like that."

Zerrex nodded after a moment in return to her, rubbing at his skull absently before he watched the horse get up and laugh, brushing himself off as the reptile said finally: "Well... then what do you think he was doing here?"

"That's a good question. Camus... Camus always said that Theophilius was insane but crafty... I haven't even gone through half his journals yet, and you know that I've spent years down here, reading and sorting his literature." Maria laughed a bit, and then she tilted her head when Zerrex smiled a little. "What?"

"Let's just ask him, then, and see what happens." Zerrex said softly, and Maria looked curious at this idea before the Drakkaren approached the horse as he hummed to himself and swung his arms back and forth gently, as if conducting an orchestra. "Theophilius, why was Camus so interested in you?"

"Because Mersault was a busy bee, and he had a thousand questions he always wanted the answers for... funny, isn't it? You can always have a million questions and yet never have a million answers. It's like answers are sand or dust, always blowing away before you ever fully comprehend them." Theophilius looked at Zerrex with a slight smile, and then he leapt to his feet and clapped his hands together. "Now then, it's my turn to ask a question, although I don't expect an answer, as we just had a discussion upon what a problem it is to get answers."

The lizard grunted and then he nodded slowly, and Theophilius looked at him seriously before he asked in a solemn voice: "Do you know, good sir, why a raven is like a writing desk?"

"Because-" Zerrex started, and then he winced when Theophilius suddenly rose a hand sharply.

"Wrong!" he barked, and Zerrex winced before the horse leaned slowly forwards, only six feet tall and yet strange and terribly imposing, enough to make the reptile grit his teeth as he wondered if this Broken was going to end up being as crazed and dangerous as most of the others he had met... before Theophilius grabbed his own face and yelled in vexation. "I asked you the wrong riddle! So stupid and silly of me, I wasted a question!"

Zerrex looked blankly at him as he stomped his hooves childishly, and then he asked dumbly: "So it's my turn?"

"Yes, it was, is the answer to your question, and a very sharp and good question it was, with how you were able to get a quick and simple answer from me." the horse said seriously, dropping his hands away from his face before he clapped his hands gleefully. "But now it's my turn again, since you've had your question! Now, now, now, what was it..."

He looked down thoughtfully, then looked up, a gleam in his eye as he asked curiously: "Why is a Ravenlight like a writer's grave?"

"Because that's when he gets published." Zerrex replied flatly, and the horse giggled gleefully as he covered his muzzle and nodded rapidly. "How do you know all this stuff about me?"

The horse suddenly became very serious, his ivory eyes narrowing. "Well, who said I knew anything at all about you? Maybe I'm not talking about you at all, but instead about you, or you, or you?" He poked Zerrex's chest three times, and then he frowned a bit and poked him again, saying mildly: "Although I must definitely am not talking about you."

The Broken shook his head firmly as he began to walk towards the tablecloth, and then he glanced over his shoulder... before his eyes widened and he paled visibly, the tablecloth shuddering before it collapsed to the ground, saucers and kettle and utensils clinking and breaking, and Zerrex frowned a bit before he looked back and forth as Maria cocked her head... and then Negative said softly: "Why not me?"

Theophilius screamed and staggered backwards as Negative walked slowly past the Drakkaren, holding his hands out as he shook his head violently, howling miserably: "No, no, no, you stay away! You're not welcome here anymore, not at all, not you at all!"

"You can see him?" Zerrex shouted sharply, and Negative looked disgustedly at the Drakkaren as the horse fell backwards and then scrambled away on his ass, as Maria looked back and forth wildly... and the reptile gritted his teeth as he looked at her, shocked by the fact that the Broken he'd never met before could see Negative and the other could not... and then his eyes widened as he process the implication in the male's words, and he called desperately: "Wait, what do you mean, do you know him?"

And as Zerrex only stared in shock, he saw the horse was crying now as he rolled over onto his stomach, trying to crawl miserably away as Negative approached him slowly... and Zerrex snarled before he ran forwards, grabbing wildly at the Inversion. His hands passed uselessly through him as the creature became transparent, however, leaving dark ripples that vanished a moment later as Negative ignored him entirely, and Theophilius reached a hand out, a rift beginning to open... and then Negative reached down, and Zerrex's breath caught in his throat as the horse was visibly, physically yanked to his feet as Negative brought his bone claw back, saying coldly: "Did you really think such a pathetic, lousy shell could hide your spirit from me?"

"Get off me!" The Broken tore himself free just as Negative swept his claws forwards, and he squealed in pain when the creature's claws ripped through his arm, leaving very physical, very-visible wounds as the sleeve of his petticoat was shredded. Immediately, Theophilius turned and ran, and Zerrex clenched his eyes shut, trying to withdraw Negative, trying to interfere with him somehow... and Maria snapped a hand upwards, a black chain forming in thin air beside her and snapping forwards to sweep through the space Negative was in, but it passed uselessly through him as she glanced back and forth, the chain snaking through the air in loose, searching circles.

"I can't see it, what's going on?" Maria shouted, and Zerrex opened his eyes... but both Theophilius and Negative were gone, and the reptile reached out and touched her shoulder gently. She looked at him sharply, and then nodded after a moment at the expression on his face, the black chain vanishing as a shiver passed through her. "What... what happened, Grandfather?"

"Negative. Negative attacked Theophilius... they recognized each other." Zerrex said quietly, and Maria looked stunned at this information as the reptile smiled grimly. "Hey, I'm as surprised as you. The only other person who ever detected Negative before was Naganen... and he said he only felt his presence, he couldn't quite... make him out."

"That means Negative is real... is someone else. But Theophilius is a Broken, he could... he could be from anywhere, too. Camus always said he was old, and implied he probably wasn't a mortal in life, but... god..." Maria looked away, staring down at the abandoned tablecloth and tea set... and then she shook her head slowly, murmuring: "I... I think we better sit down for a minute. I know you have... other things to do, grandfather, but..."

"It's okay. I kind of feel like... I should sit down myself." the Drakkaren said finally, and then he shook his head slowly, reaching up to rub at his face with a grimace as a shiver rolled down his spine. Eight years of living with this, and he had never once seen Negative actually hurt someone like that... manifesting himself to try and hurt someone.

The reptile paused, then closed his eyes and concentrated... but his and Maria's were the only energy signatures present any longer. That didn't surprise him... and he sighed a bit as he walked with Maria through the archway and into the library, the two sitting down at one of the long, polished wood tables.

Maria leaned against him quietly, scooting her chair close, and the reptile wrapped an arm around her, closing his eyes and sighing softly as he let his head drop to the side to rest against hers. They were quiet, and the reptile was glad that for once he didn't have to worry about time, with the way things moved so differently in the Unworld, even if chaotically... and finally, he shook his head slowly, muttering quietly: "Well, this is great. Strange Beasts, a conspiracy, a murderer, and now Negative hunting Theophilius... do you think we could find him?"

"I know where his rift is located, and he'll probably return to there after some time... but maybe... maybe I should go alone." She glanced at him quietly, touching his chest gently, and Zerrex nodded in understanding: being exposed to the Unworld would rapidly drain the reptile's energies, and seeing Theophilius might cause Negative to rear his ugly head again. And while he was obviously a threat to the Broken even outside his body, Zerrex didn't want to think what would happen if Negative took Zerrex over while they were chatting with the half-crazed horse and trying to get a straight answer out of him.

Then she kissed his cheek quietly, and the reptile smiled faintly before she patted his chest, saying quietly: "First, though, let's clean up around here... and then we can start looking through these logbooks, maybe get a hint as to why... Negative would react so violently towards him." She stopped, shuddering a bit as she looked down. "Negative... is really someone else, though, that's... I don't know why, but it chills me..."

Zerrex glanced down, shaking his head a bit and not wanting to admit how much it bothered him as well... and then he rubbed at his face with a grimace before saying finally: "Well, let's not get ahead of ourselves, anyway. Like Naganen said, it's... what I thought all along, and it... just means I get to tell everyone I told you so. I'm really looking forwards to saying that to Vivien, even though she'll probably hit me."

Maria shook her head a bit with a sigh, but she smiled a little as she glanced down embarrassedly, replying quietly: "We all should have probably paid more attention to you when you said that, grandfather..."

"Zerrex." the reptile muttered pettishly, and the Broken shook her head before nudging him firmly with her shoulder, and the reptile straightened... but Maria only hugged him firmly around the middle, pressing a bit closer to him as he gazed down at her, feeling her emotions deepening. "Now don't go blaming yourself for any of this..."

"I'm blaming all of us a little bit. I mean... it was easier to think of Negative as just... part of you. The idea that he's... got his own consciousness..." Maria looked down quietly, shaking her head slowly as she murmured: "That's scary. To think of something, literally inside of you, awake and... evil... you and yet not you..."

She shook her head slowly, and Zerrex smiled faintly down at her before he sighed a bit and gazed towards the ceiling, and she squeezed him silently around the middle as the two rested together before the reptile finally said: "It's not the first time, Maria... once, I had a creature named Drake inside of me. A synthetic Nephilim of dark energies, a symbiotic life-form that ended up betraying me..."

The reptile shook his head with a bit of a laugh. "So strange to think about. I came from a world where... where people with supernatural powers existed, but they were so rare that most people thought it was all make-believe, and places like Ire were quick to put them to use as living weapons or as parts of a military or 'private operations' taskforce. Then I got involved with science run amok, playing with the rules of life and death and... creating supersoldiers, with superpowers. And then... demons and Heaven and Hell. I always thought that would be the end of it, though, you know? I never imagined I'd... I'd end up here."

He looked down, rubbing at his face slowly as he murmured quietly: "Every time I think I've reached the end, I've seen and experienced the most fantastic of things that could exist... I find out that no, the story can never end. That there's always, always something waiting ahead, a new corner, a new twist, and that no matter how powerful I become myself, no matter what I become... there's something scarier, and stronger, and so much smarter than I'll ever be."

Maria looked at him softly, and Zerrex met her eyes, gazing back with a bit of a smile. "Narrius was... terrible, and cunning, and ruthless... but shortsighted. He only wanted to destroy, to watch things burn... and Athéos was frightening in his strength, almost omnipotent... but almost is the key word there. And Camus..." Zerrex quieted, looking down as he squeezed slowly into the Broken's side with one hand. "Poor Camus. He wasn't deluded, or wicked, or corrupt... he was just... sad, and confused, and struggling to do good, but he... got lost along the way."

The female smiled faintly as she nodded slowly, and then she stood up quietly. Zerrex began to rise, but she gently pushed him back down into the chair, saying softly: "Sit for now, Daddy. Just relax a bit. I'm going to clean up that mess... we need to keep the manse looking good, after all. Who knows what visits here when we're gone?"

Zerrex laughed a bit as he nodded slowly, gazing out at the library silently: shelf after shelf of books, arranged neatly in rows, spaces here and there in which tables much like this one rested for easy reading... and above, catwalks and platforms upon which more shelves of books were. And the books here were incredible: they were of every size and genre imaginable, and yet the reptile suspected very few of them were fantasy. Instead, they seemed to chronicle the stories of worlds, of heroes, of villains throughout the universe... and here and there, were ancient texts on biology, on the laws of the universe, even on philosophy: many of the last had almost been worn down with how many times they had been read.

The reptile glanced towards Maria, who was carefully folding the tablecloth: she had already cast a cleansing spell over it, and the Drakkaren absently flicked his fingers as he concentrated slightly, making energy spark through the air above his hand. The entire Unworld was inundated with energy: not the corruption of Hell or the purity of Heaven, but intense enough nonetheless that magic could be performed. Then he stood up, but wandered past Maria when she gave him a look, holding up his hands. "Fine, fine, I won't help."

"Good." Maria smiled a bit at him as Zerrex walked towards the statues of gods that lined the front of the entrance hall, and his eyes roved slowly over them as he rubbed at his face quietly, halting in front of one of a benevolent Naganatine with a smile on his features. Naganis... and then the reptile winced and flailed his arms when Maria touched his shoulder, the female blushing as she reared back a bit. "I... sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I just wanted to know if I should set up a room for you here, if... you wanted to stay for a little while."

"I... that shouldn't be necessary. I always feel strange here, anyway... the Unworld Manse might be protected from the hostile energies of the place but... that doesn't make the atmosphere much more welcoming." Zerrex said finally, as his eyes lingered on the statue... and then he shook his head a bit, turning to Maria and reaching up to squeeze her shoulders gently. "Let's just stay for a few days. If we need a break, we can just relax in one of the old bedrooms."

"That sounds like a good idea then, Zerrex... and my bedroom should be set up and fine, as always, and... I prefer staying in your company, anyway." Maria murmured softly, resting her head against his chest as she stepped closer to him and hugged him around the neck, and Zerrex hugged her gently back, before he laughed quietly as she kissed the side of his throat. "Can we... sleep together?"

"You mean have sex?" the Drakkaren asked dryly, and the female blushed but nodded after a moment, looking up at him with eyes both hungry and innocent. Maria, after all, had spent much of her life raised as a proper lady, despite being a succubus... it wasn't until long after she'd become a Broken she'd finally started to explore her sexual heritage. "Yes, Maria. You know I'm not going to deny you that."

"Good. Then I'll finish up here, and we'll wind down from the events of today in my bedroom before we do anything strenuous." Maria said quietly but firmly, and the reptile smiled a little after a moment, nodding as she squeezed into his sides. "Do you need help finding your way through the manse?"

The lizard shook his head at this, however, giving another quiet laugh. "No, we've been here often enough now that I've got a pretty good idea of the layout. I guess that's your gentle way of telling me to get to the bedroom and take my pants off though, huh?"

"It is." Maria smiled a bit up at the male, and the Drakkaren shook his head a bit before he grasped her shoulders and kissed her forehead, and then slipped past her. He paused for a moment to glance down at the spilled tea and broken porcelain on the floor, beginning to raise a hand... and then he winced when something snapped lightly against him, staggering towards the steps and glaring over his shoulder to see a black chain floating eerily in the air for a moment before it vanished, the Broken looking at him with quiet amusement. "I said I'd take care of it, grandfather. Go ahead, go upstairs."

Zerrex rolled his eyes, muttering under his breath as he headed to the steps, thinking morbidly for a moment about how he was supposed to be a god of such incredible power... and yet here he was, spending most of his time getting ordered around by his own Disciples, who wouldn't even let him raise a hand to clean anything. And let's not forget about the whole 'take off your pants' part...

_ _

The Drakkaren lay in bed with Maria, the Broken naked and curled against his body as she snored quietly: the female would only sleep for an hour or two, but it would be enough to clear her mind and revive her, and Zerrex often envied that. He could sleep for ten hours and still feel like he'd been hit by his truck, with the worries chasing themselves around in his head only growing worse over that whole time... and then he sighed a bit as he shook his head before gazing up at the slightly-domed ceiling, murmuring: "Being a god is way overrated."

He carefully slipped out from beneath her: Maria was a heavy sleeper, though, and he knew from experience that even if he just let her flop to the mattress, she wouldn't wake up. He lowered her with a little more gentleness than this, however, smiling faintly as he sat at the side of the wide bed before shaking his head a little and standing up.

Maria's room was surprisingly minimalist: the large bed with its white sheets and large pillows and a single heavy comforter, the walls plain, bare stone, a small table in one corner with a single framed picture of Shelly and Maya: her mother and her aunt, but who had acted like they were Maria's parents. She'd never really known her father... and Zerrex picked up the framed photo, looking quietly at his two deceased daughters, thinking about how they had always loathed the way many of his own family members had been so open with their sex and sexuality... and yet it was Shelly and Maya both who had trouble with relationships, getting in long relationship after long relationship, only for each to end in disaster and for them, within weeks, sometimes even only days, to move on to someone else.

They had been good daughters, though... very different from the rest of his family, yes... but they'd never done time in prison like some of his kids, or gotten involved with the wrong crowd, or come begging for money and help at the lizard's doorstep one too many times. They had been good kids... and then the reptile looked at Maria, and he smiled faintly, knowing he was romanticizing them maybe a little too much. Not they hadn't been good; he was only too well-aware they'd had their flaws and made their mistakes, too.

The reptile put the picture down, then walked to the door, letting himself quietly out as he rubbed absently at his bare chest. He grimaced a bit as he entered the corridor, hating the way that when he was alone, this place seemed to whisper to him, seemed to want to draw him towards the back of the Manse... where the nastier side of this place rested. The kennels, where a monster called Rot had slept, and the war room that Jupiter had spent most of his time in, the cement and stone and metal covered in scrapes and gouges, training dummies standing like silent soldiers waiting to be executed.

For now, however, the lizard walked down the gently-curved hall, glancing at the beautiful paintings of alien landscapes here and there before he pushed open a door that was painted soft blue... and as always, the reptile leaned quietly against the frame, gazing into the wide, rounded reading room beyond. Huge shelves towered up either side of the room to the high ceiling, from which hung a chandelier made of diamond and crystal glass, and a single armchair rested in front of a cozy fireplace, the mantle above this decorated with small statuettes of jade. And as Zerrex's eyes lingered, he could almost see a lion with black fur walking back and forth in his red cardinal's robes, books open in his hands as he made notes in a journal, always careful to never scribble on any of the texts or leave any marks apart from the occasional invisible fingerprint.

The Drakkaren smiled a little to himself, and then he sighed softly and walked into the room, slowly making his way to the chair and sitting down as he gazed into the empty fireplace... but as he looked at it, blue flames sprung to life. By now, the reptile knew most of the little secrets of the manse, however, and it didn't bother him as he stretched his feet out as he looked up at the ceiling, murmuring: "Camus... how many secrets did you discover in this room?"

Although they had the Broken's journals and logbooks, Camus had written most of his notes in a frustratingly-hard-to-decipher shorthand. Whenever he went into detail on a subject, his handwriting was smooth and graceful and effeminate... but when he was making the rough notes, many of which contained details his manuscripts and treatise on the Broken only skimmed over, his writing was clunky, tiny, and difficult to make out even before the fact his shorthand seemed like encrypted code instead of any known language.

Maria had dug up some old texts relating to the Unity religion during a visit to Hell, however... and by researching Camus's time period, she had discovered that the religious scholars of that time had been trained to use a particular form of notation for their research. Apparently old habits died hard, because it was this same jargon Camus had used for his notes, and so Zerrex, Cindy, and Maria had spent many long hours studying and learning the jargon and notation, just so they could then use it to help decipher Camus's research.

The male smiled a little despite himself at this, rubbing at his face slowly. So many hours spent basically learning a new alphabet, what almost amounted to a new language, and was worse than any military code he'd ever had to memorize when he'd been mortal... and then he shook his head a little bit as he murmured: "But Camus, of course, had his own custom stylizations, too... both stuff he'd probably learned at... wherever he did his priest-schooling, as well as personal little tics..."

But after months of studying as well as trial-and-error, they had figured out most of the lion's code... although it still left literally several billion years of journals for them to sort through. Since Maria had spent years with Camus, it at least meant she knew some of his research off the top of her head, and could recall certain names and dates - or rather, 'periods,' as they called them in the Unworld, which had no standard 'time' like in the mortal world, as there was no passage of day or night - and since Camus had neatly organized every one of his journals and labeled them all chronologically, it made finding the information a little easier. The only problems arose when he started citing other journal entries and past information... then they would often have to start going all through the shelves and storage rooms full of journals just to find the one reference he was making and hope that it didn't just lead to another allusion.

Zerrex rubbed at his forehead slowly... and then he grimaced as Negative said quietly: "You really think you can find what you're looking for amidst a dead Broken's memories?"

"Go to hell." Zerrex muttered under his breath, glancing at Negative... but a little more warily than before, as the Inversion looked back... and the reptile frowned a bit at the curiosity in his crimson eyes instead of the usual hostility, asking slowly: "What?"

"I spend much of my time inside your spirit, Zerrex. Why don't you simply ask me these questions, instead of trying so hard to go the long route around? You don't know for sure that I will lie to you... you don't know for sure if I have ever lied to you." Negative flexed his bone claw slowly, looking down at the reptile as he leaned on the back of the chair. "After all, I feed off pain and torment. If the truth hurts you, why wouldn't I be eager to share it with you?"

"You seem pretty goddamn eager right now." Zerrex muttered grouchily, looking up at the Inversion with a grimace. "Fine, Negative, why the hell did you go after Theophilius like that? How did you hurt him? And why the hell could he see you when no one else can?"

"Theophilius Carter saw more than just me when he looked at you." Negative said softly, and Zerrex frowned a bit, and then he looked up as he remembered the equine poking at him as the pieces fell into place in his mind.

"He was referring to me as me, as what my damaged mind calls the Conscious Walker... not Cold, not Good, not Ravenlight." Zerrex glanced away, then he looked back at Negative, asking slowly: "So he's psychic? Like, really powerful psychic?"

"Lunatics like Theophilius cannot be psychic." Negative replied disdainfully, shaking his head slowly. "No, he did not look into your mind, but he saw inside of you. I do not hide in your mind, after all... like I said, I spend my time inside your spirit. Warping you. Corrupting you. Influencing you to be more like me."

The creature smiled coldly down at the lizard, but he was undeterred as he retorted flatly: "If that was true, Negative, then why the hell am I getting more-and-more used to your assholery and you're less-and-less able to control me during Inversions?"

Negative looked disgusted at this, reaching down and grabbing Zerrex's hair, and the reptile winced as he felt his white locks seized into before his head was yanked upwards, the creature saying softly: "Don't be rude to me, or I'll show you just how deeply I can control you when I make you cut the pretty whore sleeping in her bed into bloody ribbons."

"Broken don't really bleed blood..." Zerrex began, and then he grunted when Negative shoved him down into the chair before gritting his teeth when a long, sharp bone needle shot from the Inversion's wrist, pressing against the scales of the lizard's throat. "You kill me, and we both die."

"Are you sure?" Negative said softly, and Zerrex felt a chill even as he forced himself to meet the creature's red, hellish eyes. He felt the needle pressing forwards against the scales of his neck as the dark creature leaned over him, murmuring quietly: "You're not even sure of what you are. A god of some sort, suffering from Inversion sickness... but you don't understand, do you? Life is a cycle, a circle; whatever something begins as, it must inevitably regress, and once more end as."

"Most of us begin life innocent, Negative... innocent, good, and honorable. As children, who just want to be friends with other children, as little ones only interested in fun and play and happiness and who get sad when they see other kids sad or hurt. Few of us start out sociopaths and evil and monsters... it's the tormented who become the most effective tormentors, after all." Zerrex reached up and snagged the needle of bone, gritting his teeth as Negative snarled at him, and the reptile didn't know if it was his arm that was trembling, or the Inversion's: only that shivers were making the sharp needle tickle against his throat. "I think even you might have started out that way. Then again, if you truly are an Inversion of Creation, maybe you should take off that mask and show me who you really are. Gods help me, Negative, but I think I know what you really are. Why you're so nasty all the goddamn time, and why you love Naganen, even if you pretend you don't know what 'love' is. And I know it's all my fucking fault, but I think you're the spirit of Naganis, corrupted when I killed myself without thinking that not only did it shatter my own godly status... but it Inverted his energies as well."

"I am not Naganis, don't ever, ever compare me to him!" Negative shouted furiously, the bone spike retracting suddenly as he shoved Zerrex backwards hard enough to make the chair rock... but the Inversion staggered as well, looking at the reptile with both fear and horror as Zerrex leapt up to his feet and advanced on him. "Stay away from me!"

"Why are you so scared?" Zerrex shouted, and Negative collided with the bookcase, clawing into it... and the reptile's eyes widened as he realized the Inversion was unable to phase through it in his panicked state, and he reached out... and grinned when he was able to seize Negative's shoulders, as the dark-scaled creature snagged his wrists with a hiss of fury, claws ripping into the scales but the reptile far from caring as he said darkly: "Maybe I should rip that mask off your face and see for myself who you are..."

"I am you!" Negative clawed into the reptile's arms, ripping long, bloody swathes through his scales, and Zerrex cursed as he drew his left arm back with a wince as the scales on his right peeled away to reveal the corrupt matter beneath this. Then his eyes widened when Negative snapped his arm upwards, the bone spike popping out of his wrist before he stabbed this into the Drakkaren's right forearm, and there was a sizzle for a moment before dark energy crackled though the air as it was injected directly from the bone spike into the lizard's rocky limb, chunks of warped stone and metal flying in all directions as the reptile was knocked backwards with a curse.

He skidded on his back against the floor, a golf-ball sized hole in the middle of his right forearm as he clenched his eyes shut, a bit of blood and black ooze leaking from the wound as he clutched at his limb... and when he looked up, Negative was gone. The lizard cursed under his breath as he lay on his back, and then he grimaced a bit as he slowly rolled onto his side, breathing hard as the corrupt material of his right arm slowly began to rebuild itself, but the process was slow due to the wound being splattered with Negative's corruption. "Goddammit..."

Zerrex carefully hauled himself up to a kneel, looking silently at the ground, his fears finally voiced after all these years. Negative's tendencies for destruction, his sheer, awful power, his strange tics and eccentricities... all of them were explained by the guess that he was Naganis's energies, manifested and Inverted as Destruction instead of Creation. And then the reptile snorted in disgust as he realized that despite everything, Negative had also evaded answering any of his questions... and he shook his head slowly as he sat back on his haunches, flexing his right hand as scales crawled back over his fingers and slowly covered his arm, muttering under his breath: "All the more reason to get more research into whether or not Inverted gods can be restored..."

He shook his head slowly as he finally stood, wobbling a bit on the spot and rubbing at his forehead with a grimace. His head ached, and he felt a bit weak... and the Drakkaren sighed a little as he carefully slid his way over to the chair and dropped himself down in it, closing his eyes and letting his hands rest in his lap as pain and tingles travelled through his right arm. He felt... oddly tired, however, and he couldn't help but smile a little at this: after all, whether or not Negative really was a part of him... he definitely was using the Drakkaren's body and metal facilities and maybe even his strange abilities as his own resources, and thus fighting with the Inversion always left the lizard feeling taxed.

He rubbed the underside of his muzzle slowly against his own shoulder, and then he dropped his head back against the back of the chair, gazing silently up at the ceiling. The energy crash would pass soon enough... but now, as adrenaline faded and sanity slowly returned, he was worried about what Negative might do in retaliation. The Inversion had a wicked habit of holding grudges, after all... and he rarely, if ever, let anything go. Worst of all, he knew there were many, many ways he could hurt Zerrex, and how far he could push the lizard before the Drakkaren retaliated in return... and he would threaten, bully, intimidate, and do whatever he could to make the lizard miserable as revenge for daring to stand up to him.

Before the reptile's mind could wander too far, however, his head drooped... and a few minutes later, he was asleep. Maria eventually came in to check on him, but she only gazed at him softly and gently brushed the hair back from his eyes, able to feel the uncertain pulse of his energies, knowing something had happened... and that rest right now was probably what was best for the lizard.

She left him, and Zerrex spent the next eight hours asleep in the chair, undisturbed and peaceful... and when he finally awoke, he climbed to his feet, unaware of how long he'd slept for. When he found Maria and she informed him how much time had passed, the reptile had been disgruntled, grumbling and complaining... that is, until the Broken had silenced him by holding up a logbook and smiling slightly. "But you'll want to hear this."

Zerrex cocked his head curiously: in front of the female was a stack of black, leather-bound notebooks, a few of them with slivers of paper sticking out of them here and there, either bookmarks or additional notations... and lining the walls of either side of the long, rectangular storage room were simple wooden shelves, all full of more of the same kinds of books. Camus's logs and research, all neatly organized, all neatly labeled on the spine and the front with the 'period' they were from. "You found something already?"

"I just had to think back a little." Maria smiled a bit up at her grandfather, nodding and looking embarrassed. "I mean... Camus talked to me a lot. And even if... a lot of the time, as Serviteur, I... I so rarely listened to what he had to say... some of his words did linger with me. And Theophilius, he talked about more than once."

The reptile nodded slowly, and Maria cleared her throat before she opened the notebook, paging through to a bookmark and reading quietly but clearly: "'Today, while out exploring the Unworld, I came across a strange sight: a large dinner table, set with plates and saucers, in the region near what I call the Black Archipelago. Even stranger was the fact that all around this table were seated Unworld Beings, creatures that normally cannot bear to stay still and show no signs of sentience apart from their unquenchable thirst for energy.

"'I could not help but watch as they handed biscuits to each other and drank tea as calmly and cordially as if they were honored guests at a dinner hosted by the bishop of my former church. What left me truly surprised, however, was when I finally decided to document this sight and turned to head back to the Unworld Manse, I was confronted with a Broken in gentleperson's attire. He acted indignant, but not hostile towards me, and I soon found myself all but dragged to the tea party.

"'I sat between two Unworld Beings, who nodded at me politely. I barely knew how to respond, and I had the sense that they were not simply being puppeted for his amusement. I also came to shortly realize that despite how chaotic this Broken acted, and how crazed the tea party seemed, there was an organization and etiquette hidden just beneath the surface so complex I dare say it rivaled the most eccentric and political courts of the mortal world.

"'After much questioning, I finally came to know the being was known as Theophilius Carter. I do not believe this to be his real identity: he dresses and behaves like a mortal, but something about him tingles my senses, makes me think he's much more than this.'" She stopped, then added quietly: "And then Camus had come back and added notations here, continuations of his encounters with him."

Zerrex nodded slowly, and Maria put the notebook down, picking up another and skimming through it until she halted at a bookmark, saying softly: "This is a longer entry... but the short version is that he managed to find the rift where Theophilius lives. Not difficult, the entrance to it was clearly marked, and he apparently doesn't like to move it around.

"Theophilius wasn't hostile at all: a lot of Broken are very territorial about their rifts... to us, it's more than just a home, it's a sanctuary, a refuge." Maria smiled a little, glancing at Zerrex quietly. "Funny how I never had one, huh? But then again, neither did Camus. I guess we both knew that... we couldn't escape our demons that way."

She looked down, then shook her head quickly before continuing softly, as her chainmail bikini tinkled quietly against her body: "Theophilius welcomed Camus in. Showed him around, but by now Camus had started his research into the First Gods, and he noticed a lot of very strange artifacts. Stuff that was half-disguised by the Broken, half left out in the open, probably thinking he was either clever or no one would know what they were... but Camus knew. A lot of it was very ancient, some of it gathered from the Unworld, maybe stolen from the Manse, maybe even somehow taken from the Center of the Universe itself. But the moment Camus started asking questions about that, the Broken got really suspicious... and as you probably noticed, his defense mechanism is to act even crazier.

"Camus eventually gave up on getting any information out of him and left." Maria held the book out to Zerrex, and the Drakkaren took it, glancing down at the page and grimacing as he let his eyes skim over the long passage, turning the page to note how long it was as his eye caught on several words; 'pottery,' 'runes,' and 'energy' among them. "There's more passages, but a lot of it is the same... what Camus began to suspect, however, was that Theophilius is probably the remains of a god who was around during the days of the First Gods. Maybe he even worked for them, or was a servant or something... but whenever he breached the subject with Theophilius, either directly or subtly, the Broken always got extremely agitated. I don't know why he never mentioned this to me... or maybe he did. It explains, though, why he was always interested in visiting Theophilius and always trying to recruit him into the Theologians... but I don't see the connection as to why Negative hates him."

"I kind of do." Zerrex murmured, shaking his head a bit with a grimace: if Theophilius had once been a god that had worked for the First Gods, and if Negative really was the energies of Naganis, turned evil and mixed with Zerrex's darker side... then it could certainly be a good enough reason for the Inversion to want to lash out at the creature. However, he remembered that Negative had accused Theophilius of hiding something... and he sighed a bit, looking at Maria and hesitating for a moment.

She noticed this however, her gaze immediately sharpening on him, and the reptile winced before she asked quietly: "What do you want me to do, grandfather? And don't lie and say nothing, you either had an idea or something else came to your mind. Don't keep it from me... my job as Disciple is to protect you and aid you." She stopped, then smiled a bit, adding softly: "And as your friend, you as mine and I as yours... I want to help you, too."

The Drakkaren looked at her for a few long moments... and then he laughed a little, shaking his head slowly and murmuring: "Now that ain't playing fair. Now if I say no, I'll sound like a real bastard..." He looked at her pointedly, but she only smiled amusedly in return and winked at him, the Drakkaren mumbling under his breath before he nodded a few times with a grumble. "Alright, alright, alright. I... look. Maybe you should go try and see Theophilius, then. Or at least find out if you can track down his rift. Now that we have... actual information on the First Gods, too, now that I've seen the Center of the Universe and we've learned this stuff from Camus... I dunno. Maybe we can get Theophilius to spill whatever he's hiding. And while you do that, I can stay here and dig through these notebooks some."

"I'll be glad to at least check on him. Try and... find out a little about him, too." Maria said softly, nodding a bit as she gazed at the Drakkaren quietly. "You're in no hurry to head to Heaven?"

"You have to ask?" Zerrex tilted his head towards her, looking dryly amused, and Maria gave him a look of quiet entertainment. "Exactly. Besides, we could spend years here, and it would only be a minute or two upstairs, unless the energy signals got all wonky down here... and you can sense that, can't you?"

"Easily." Maria nodded to him, and she stood up and hugged her grandfather tightly, the Drakkaren returning the embrace firmly before she reached up and gently stroked his chest, murmuring softly: "Where are your beads?"

"I probably left my mala in your room somewhere... it's okay, I'll grab them later." He paused awkwardly as she gave him a look, and then he motioned at the pile of logbooks, asking curiously: "Are these the ones you've been working on?"

Maria continued to look at him for a moment, and then she nodded finally, saying quietly: "That's right, these are the books I've tracked down so far. You know how Camus's references are... one leads to five hundred others. They're all before my time but after he began researching the First Gods, though, so they're likely the ones with the more crucial information in them. You'll call me if you need anything or find anything important, though, right?"

Zerrex smiled a little at her, nodding as she touched his scarred chest almost hesitantly. "I will, Maria, I promise, okay?" He reached up and stroked her face quietly. "I won't leave you out of the loop with anything, especially when it comes to Camus."

"I... I just wanted to be sure." Maria said embarrassedly, and then she half-bowed to him as she stepped backwards, saying quietly: "I'll head out now then. Remember, call me if you need anything at all, Zerrex, anything."

"Go away, I already said I would, now get." Zerrex smiled and made a shooing gesture, and she looked at him softly before nodding and turning to walk through the large, heavy stone door leading out into the corridor beyond. The reptile watched her go, and then he shook his head a bit before gathering up an armload of notebooks with a grumble, walking out into the corridor himself after a moment.

Maria hated when he got everything all mixed up, but the reptile wasn't as comfortable in most of the Estate as she was... so he trundled his way down to the library with the armload of books and dropped them on the table. Then he headed all the way back upstairs and through the maze of corridors before wincing when he found the Broken waiting for him at the storage room, gazing at him with both irritation and amusement as she held out his mala and tapped her foot slowly. "Grandfather..."

"I told you not to call me that." Zerrex said pettishly, and then he cleared his throat and snatched the prayer beads from her, putting them around his neck and feeling his energies settling, his mind becoming a little more lucid as his worried thoughts were quelled somewhat. "And also, I thought you were leaving."

"Well, I might as well help you carry the rest of those notebooks down now." Maria said dryly, and she shook her head slowly as the reptile mumbled to himself and snatched up another armload of the pile of black leather books, Maria picking the last few up the reptile couldn't fit between his arms and sighing as she followed him, saying sourly: "And please at least carry the books back to the storeroom when you're done, don't just... leave them sitting around. And don't try and steal any, either."

"He was my friend." Zerrex glanced at her, and she softened, blushing a bit... before glaring when he added blandly: "That's what you do when friends die. You steal their stuff."

"Grandfather!" Maria sounded horrified, and the Drakkaren grinned at her and shrugged amiably. "That is most entirely improper!"

"Your accent is slipping in." the reptile remarked, and then he winced and ducked when Maria grabbed a book from her arms and threw it at his head, hurrying quickly onwards as the Broken glared at him. "Have a sense of humor!"

The female only sighed, however, stopping to pick up the notebook she'd thrown, and the male hurried onwards and down the steps, almost tripping over the last few before he grimaced a bit as he headed into the library and dropped the books on the wooden tabletop. He rested his hands against it, gazing down at them and rolling his head on his shoulders, smiling a little to himself now. Maria always got mad at him when he took Camus's logbooks without telling her first... but he knew that she knew he'd also taken a few of Camus's other possessions, and she'd never complained. The logbooks were part of the Unworld Manse's vast library now, though, and they did deserve to stay here, so that anyone who did find their way into this place by miracle or design could learn what Camus had struggled almost his whole lifetime to chronicle... while the things that the lion used to own were only things, but still something that the reptile could keep and use to help remember the male by.

For instance, a simple locket... although this he'd eventually hung in a shrine that rested at the center of the Narrius Necropolis in Hell, a large, beautiful cemetery where the remains of many of those who had died during the terrible battle with Athéos and the Old Gods were entombed. The shrine at its core had been built after the end of the war, when Zerrex had been thought to have been lost forever, pulled into the Nothingness as it was... and there, they had housed his sword, Blackheart - the only thing that had remained - in an altar dedicated to him, and hung the remains of his friends and family who had died during the battles from the rafters, with beautiful mosaics that told stories of the lizard's life painted over the walls.

To this day, it was a place the reptile visited every now and then when he needed a moment of calm reflection... and it only seemed fitting that the locket, and a small urn containing a bit of Camus's clothing and dust from the Center of the Universe, joined the others that hung there in the rafters. The reptile felt like, in a way, they had both been the victims of tragic circumstance after all... and he sighed a bit as he sat down at the chair, glancing up as Maria entered and put the books down next to the pile the reptile had made, resting her hand on the cover of one and gazing softly at the lizard as she felt his mood.

"I feel worthless sometimes." Zerrex said plainly, looking up at her, and Maria looked surprised by the fact the reptile had just come outright and said something instead of dancing around the subject like he usually did. Then the lizard smiled a little, reaching out and patting her quietly on the hip. "Are we sure I'm not a god of self-loathing? Because I seem to be really good at that."

"Now stop that, grandfather." Maria said quietly, and she reached up and gently stroked a hand through his hair. "Try and relax a little while you read, okay? I'll see if I can find Theophilius and talk to him a little. Don't force yourself to read too much... stop and rest if you have to, pray if you need to, and call me if you need anything."

"A god praying. Funny, huh?" Zerrex murmured, and Maria only leaned down and kissed his temple before she turned and left, and the reptile smiled a little as he watched her go. They all knew that he didn't really pray, after all, at least not in some religious sense... but it was more like meditation, and a gentle nudge to... whatever forces that be in the universe, whether they were sentient and accommodating or not.

He shook his head after a moment, then reached up and ran the beads of his mala through his fingers quietly, a thrumming energy seeming to pulse through the beads. Then he dropped them back against his chest and straightened a bit, mumbling: "Alright, alright. Focus, Zerrex, focus. Gotta get this done, gotta get up to Heaven. Stop wasting all your time thinking."

He dug through the pile of notebooks until he found the oldest of the bunch, and flipped it open to the first bookmark, glancing along the page until he caught the name he was looking for: Theophilius. The reptile backed up to the beginning of the paragraph, and then sat back and read, pausing only long enough to hold a hand out and snap his fingers, grinning a bit as a mug of coffee appeared in front of him. Being able to create whatever he pleased came in very handy at times... even if when he created food and drink, it always had a bit of a flat taste to it.

Still, it was more than enough to serve its purpose, the reptile lounging back in his seat as he sipped at coffee and read through entry after entry... and reading, thankfully, was an act that helped calm him down. Even Camus's shorthand was eloquent, if not in style than in diction, and the reptile was surprised by what he was learning as he slowly turned pages and making mental notes until he finally flicked his hand to the side, creating a small, blue-colored notebook out of thin air, and then a matching fountain pen. The lizard quickly jotted down his notes, the trail of ink left by the pen glowing a faint blue before it turned black, and the Drakkaren smiled wryly at this use of his energies as they visibly transformed into ink on the page, amused as always by how he had such incredible powers... and he only ever used them for the most mundane of tasks.

The reptile continued to make notes as he pushed through the logs, looking specifically for something that Theophilius could be hiding and noting that Camus had made guesses and assumptions towards which of the First Gods the Broken may have served, and more importantly, what his tasks may have been. The best guesses he'd made were entertainer, administrator, or counselor: yet Camus had also noted that while Theophilius seemed like a complete lunatic, he also seemed to have an uncanny ability to restore mind and focus to even the Unworld Beings, which often wandered around with him, much like servants or an entourage.

Camus also noted that Theophilius had shown up on more than one occasion inside the Unworld Manse after the lion had set up his headquarters here. He never brought any of his 'servants' inside - Camus noted that he himself was the one who referred to them as servants, while Theophilius referred to them with naïve genuineness as 'friends' despite the fact they only ever did what he ordered them to - and he had always seemed extremely familiar with the layout. The lion also noted the horse's habit of vanishing from one location only to mysteriously emerge from another, putting forwards the idea that the Broken could perhaps phase through reality as he willed, and yet was strangely-shy about using his powers in the presence or under the gaze of others.

As the Drakkaren continued to read and make notes, he found himself slowly but surely putting together pieces of the puzzle about the strange, eccentric Broken. The last time Theophilius had shown up at the Manse was after Camus had been putting together the Theologians, and after he'd dredged Jupiter up from the dark recesses of the Unworld. The horse had fiercely hated Jupiter, and Jupiter had treated the Broken with 'unnatural ferocity; even for the monster he was.' It was like they had sensed in each other something they had despised... and Camus had indicated a reference to another logbook with the notation: 'First meeting' beside it.

Curious, Zerrex dug through the books... but since Maria had been only picking up the books that had been strictly about Theophilius, it wasn't here. So the Drakkaren sighed before he took a short trip to the storage room, grumbling to himself as he eventually found his way through the Manse and trying to ignore how loud the silence seemed and how eerie the catacomb-like halls were with no one else around.

He let himself into the storage room, and dug through the shelves until he found the logbook he was looking for. Then, he simply sat down on the floor, flipping through journal entries until he came to one that detailed how Camus had come to find the monster that had been Jupiter, a god that had been so obsessed with battle it had eventually trapped itself in the Unworld and become a bloodthirsty Broken.

Following the information provided to me in the Unworld Manse, I made contact with several ancient gods. Once I made it clear I meant them no harm, they were all too happy to tell me the story of how the former King of Gods, Jupiter, had fallen from grace, and how when they had tried to save him, they had discovered he had become a rampaging Broken.

It took me only three days to locate Jupiter: with his description and nature in mind, I theorized he would spend most of his time in areas of denser energy, where Unworld Beings gather and sometimes other Broken come to feed. I discovered him crushing Beings for cheap entertainment: the moment he sensed my energy, however, he immediately turned his eyes to me and attacked.

I immobilized him and restored his mind, hoping he would calm down. Instead, it made him more eager for battle. I was forced to immobilize him again and threaten him, despite my aversion to such acts. It was only with a show of force that he finally humbled himself before me: I fear, however, that he is as stupid and animal as the gods had warned me.

I attempted nonetheless to get information out of him. According to ancient records, Jupiter was born sometime before the First Gods were destroyed. He knew little about them apart from a few stories of how they were all-powerful, however, and his information was useless. Equally, reading the 'deep memories' stored inside his energy signature were also useless. He comes from what I refer to as the Dark Age of gods, a chasm between when the gods were ruled by the equal parts wisdom and honor of the First Gods and the alliances and fellowships of current gods. Jupiter was King of Gods when gods feared and were ruled by one thing, and one thing alone: power.

Nonetheless, I have taken him with me to the Unworld Manse, and given him refuge there. My hope is that experiencing a lifestyle less barbaric than his own will calm him some, even though I know this is likely futile. He is less than an animal, learning only through fear: he shows no affection and no remorse and has no concept of the idea of friendship, or even loyalty. He could not tell me anything about the possibly-mythical Center of the Universe, or the Empyrean Hall where all Gods were once said to gather, the very hall he himself once ruled. When I pressed him for information on the subject, he dismissed it as unimportant, and then listed out how many gods and servants he killed over the course of his rulership, before his foolhardy attempt to pursue 'big game' in the Unworld, wishing to be one of the few gods who could claim they had slain a Broken.

When I look at Jupiter, I feel both disgust and fear: what if the gods I've been chasing my entire life are the same way? What if the universe is as monstrous at its foundations as this terrible beast, ancient and almost invulnerable, and yet so ruthless and foolish he feels joy and pride can only be obtained by destroying everything weaker than he is?

Zerrex glanced down as he let the logbook close, dropping it into his lap for a moment and rubbing slowly at his face: he remembered Jupiter all too well... and somehow, he wasn't surprised to know that even when he'd been a god, he'd been the kind of person who tore the wings off flies and then watched them crawl around. Actually, thinking of Jupiter... he probably tore the limbs off people and watched them flop on the ground until they died.

The reptile shuddered a bit at this, grasping at the prayer beads hanging around his neck before he looked to the side, muttering: "But he's dead and gone now, at least. Good riddance to him, too... he's right up there with Narrius on my 'I'm glad he's dead' list."

The Drakkaren fell quiet for a moment, and then he sighed and stood up, picking the book up and sliding it back into place on the shelf. Jupiter, Lovecraft, Rot, and Serviteur, Camus's 'Theologians...' and of them all, the only one Camus had ever seemed to like was Maria. Zerrex smiled a bit at this though, figuring that even as the revenge-obsessed Serviteur, Maria had probably been ten times more sane than Lovecraft... and Lovecraft had actually possessed a mind, unlike Rot and arguably, the blood-hungry Jupiter.

The reptile rested a hand against the bookshelf for a moment... and then he shook his head and turned, heading back out the door and idling his way back towards the library. He frowned, however, as something tickled at his senses, looking back and forth... and then he closed his eyes and concentrated.

An energy signature was here... one he didn't recognize at all. Immediately, the Drakkaren gritted his teeth and vanished from the spot, reappearing in the library... and then his eyes widened in shock as he saw a Strange Beast standing calmly by the table, one of Camus's logbooks open in his hand.

He was perhaps two feet taller than Zerrex, maybe more, and his body was covered by flowing purple and black robes that were left open to reveal the silk black clothes beneath: the arms of these, however, were made of silver, stacked metal plates instead of cloth that lay over tightly-knit chain mesh, covering his arms completely: his hands were bare from wrist to finger, but each of his long, slender digits was covered by a flexible sleeve of silver that ended in a short claw, thumb excluded.

His shoulders were broad, but his body was thin, his legs long and straight and ending in feet with two enormous, hoof-like claws. His tail was almost as thick as his waist, falling to the floor like a thick worm and rapidly thinning near the end, covered by the same mix of mesh and steel as did his arms: it made the strange and girthy appendage seem almost like it was clad in a metallic carapace.

His features were masculine and predatory and cruel, his eyes bright yellow with vertical, animal pupils: they reminded Zerrex of Raze's eyes, but while they gleamed with intelligence and curiosity, they lacked everything else. Purple and red scales glinted in the light, covering his features and the rest of his visible body, and two tall, thick horns stood up from the sides of his skull, curved slightly, with large, golden rings in the tips of both, and he had a brush-like mane that stood from his forehead and went to the back of his neck, as obsidian as the proud horns that stood out of his skull.

He closed the book after a moment and put it down, smiling and holding up his hands almost teasingly, but the reptile didn't relax as he snarled: the Strange Beast was a Chanter, far more intelligent than the Vipers or the Leviathans, with their own terrible brand of magic and supernatural powers that made them fearsome opponents. And then the Strange Beast's eyes focused in on the prayer beads around the reptile's neck, and he said softly: "And here I thought only females of your civilization wore such jewelry..."

"Can we skip the witty banter for today? Here's the deal: you get the hell out of here, and I don't shove my foot so far up your ass my toeclaws will come out your goddamn nose." the reptile barked, and the Strange Beast looked innocently surprised at the lizard's hostility... although the expression was very clearly a fake one. The reptile, however, was surprised himself at his own savage aggressiveness... but for some reason, this Strange Beast in particular awoke something inside him that could almost be described as pure... hatred.

"Now, is that any way to talk to a servant of the First Gods, Naganis?" the Strange Beast stroked under his own chin, smiling knowingly, and now Zerrex gaped, feeling shocked. "Yes, I know who you are... or rather, have an idea of what you are. A reincarnation of Naganis, in a sense... a soul vampire that bit off more than he could chew in another."

"Shut the hell up." Zerrex snarled, feeling self-loathing burst in him this time as much as anger. "I didn't... I didn't choose to become a god! I was just a goddamn demon doing my goddamn duty... I didn't make Athéos blow himself and me to kingdom come, just so-"

"Settle down." The Strange Beast's eyes glowed, and Zerrex felt energy spark over his body before his jaw slack and a bit of drool fell from his muzzle, his mind grinding to a halt as if he had physically crashed into a brick wall. His fingers twitched, and the Strange Beast snorted as he began to reach forwards... then cursed when Zerrex's teeth clenched and he slapped a hand out in a childish gesture, managing to knock the creature's hand away with enough force to make his wrist bend backwards painfully. "Oh, what do we have here? Self-control after all?"

Zerrex shook his head firmly out, and then he glared at the Strange Beast, asking coldly: "What the hell do you want with me? How do you know about... about my powers?"

"Oh please, as if you're such a secret." The Strange Beast rolled his eyes in disgust, but he nonetheless took a step back as he rubbed slowly at his wrist. "It was an easy matter once we were freed from imprisonment to find out what had happened in the long years passed... the pathetic mortals made by pathetic gods are so easy to break."

He grinned darkly, raising his hand and clenching his fist tight, and this time the Drakkaren refused to take the bait, instead responding dryly: "As easy to break as you? Because I admittedly hit you with all the force of a little girl and your pretty wrist is pretty bruised."

Now the Strange Beast glared at him angrily, Naganatine-like features warping with hate before he shook his head and said darkly: "We'll see who's hurting at the end of the day, Naganis. I think I understand why you placed your spirit into this tawdry, ugly container... you thought you could hide from us, the children you created and then locked away, that you could erase the past with a new body and a new name... but your energies are the same as ever, Creation. Well-disguised, mixed into the energies of this repulsive lizard-thing, but still very much the same, very much there."

"Stop calling me Naganis. In fact, stop saying that name at all, you aren't worthy to, after how much he did for this goddamned universe." Zerrex couldn't help but gave a twisted smile at the irony of his own words, but he didn't relent as he glared evenly across at the creature. "My name is Zerrex, understood? And why the hell do you have such a beef with Creation?"

"Because he locked us away!" the Strange Beast shouted furiously, and Zerrex winced back as energy arced through thin air around them , vibrations of terrible force emanating from the Strange Beast with enough strength to make books spill off the table and fall from the nearby shelves. "The First Gods, they were supposed to protect us! We were the first ones they made, us! And they locked us away, they wouldn't even tell any but their long-dead, closest Disciples why, and now we've awakened countless eternities later to find... to find this!"

He gestured violently at the ground, trembling with rage before he clenched his hands into fists and howled to the ceiling: "You stole our home! You desecrated our monuments! Every memory of the First Gods, vanquished and obliterated, except for the broken pieces of their psyche made physical that still exist here and there, hiding like cowards because they know, they know we have every right to be angry!" His voice broke with his almost-inarticulate fury and emotion, his eyes filled with scorn and hatred. "What do you expect us to do, Naganis? What did you expect to happen to us in the Void? That we would simply peacefully stay there forever, 'safe' from what? Do you think we were too stupid to know that was just a euphemism for quarantine, for the scrap yard, do you think we don't know you considered us failures?"

"Calm down." Zerrex said clearly, holding his hands up, and the Strange Beast looked absolutely infuriated before the Drakkaren glared at him, his eyes glowing solid green as he lashed out with his mind and will, using an old talent he'd had even as a demon: Dominate. For a moment the Strange Beast glared back, his own eyes glowing... and then he slowly went slack, panting quietly as he fell silent, trembling a little as the reptile realized why he'd reacted with such hate: he had been reflecting the creature's own emotions back at him. "First, I am not Naganis. I am Zerrex... Naganis's energies are mixed with mine, but I'm the one in control." I think. "Secondly, did you ever stop and think that maybe the First Gods were trying to save you from something? I mean, they're all dead, yeah. But that's exactly it, they're all dead, and you're not. Gods know as a Father, I... I would gladly hide my children away and die to save their lives."

He quieted, glancing down as the Strange Beast looked up wearily, and then the reptile asked softly: "Do you have a name? You're an original one, aren't you, one... created directly by the First Gods. But your emotions aren't... as alien as the other Strange Beasts I've met. Why is that?"

"I didn't come here to make conversation, Naganis... I came here to rip your soul out of that body." hissed the Strange Beast, and Zerrex grimaced a bit as he readied himself as the creature reared up to its full height, glaring at him furiously. "What's wrong, you don't remember me from your carefree days as Creation? Have you forgotten me already? How dare you forget me, after all I did for you... I was the Librarian!"

"Funny, since you're standing in a library and all. You don't seem like the bookish type, though." Zerrex said before he could stop himself, and the Strange Beast looked at him stupidly for a moment... then it snarled and stepped forwards into a hard swing of one fist, and Zerrex winced as he brought up his right arm to block before he cursed in shock as the Strange Beast struck him with enough force that his limb was almost torn out of its socket, snapping backwards and almost punching himself in the face as he staggered and then fell hard on his ass with a wince.

The Strange Beast, however, was wincing in pain, clenching at the now-dented metal sleeves covering his fingers and knuckles before he shook his hand slowly out, saying darkly: "And now you even dare to mock my position as caretaker of souls. You disgust me, I feel nothing but contempt for you and I see now I'm right to feel that way... I catalogued every soul, every sequence of genetic and spiritual code, I was the one who developed the master list of every member of our family... the family that you turned your back on!"

He brought his hand back, and a spear of solid ice crackled into existence in his grip, the reptile's eyes widening before he threw himself backwards when the Strange Beast stabbed it fiercely downwards, the spear ripping into the ground and then shattering into pieces as the creature howled: "I created what these stupid idiots call science, I was the one who separated fantasy and reality, I spent countless hours recording the very smallest details of every one of your projects!"

He swung his other hand out, and a burst of red flames washed outwards, Zerrex leaping to his feet and smoothly jumping out of the way before the Strange Beast lashed both claws at him in a seemingly-wild attack, but Zerrex's back arched and he winced in agony as golden light flashed in front of his eyes and he felt the claws of the creature ripping through his spine, his eyes bulging as he staggered towards the Strange Beast as his hands glowed gold and he reached outwards, hissing: "I was the one who discovered that all things have a distinct energy signature and learned how to manipulate them... and now I'll be the one to kill you!"

Zerrex swung both his hands forwards and snarled as he released an unfocused blast of blue energy, and the conical sapphire explosion slammed into the creature and knocked him flat on his back as the pain rapidly faded from the Drakkaren's body, the lizard shouting: "Enough! I'm not who you think I am!"

The Strange Beast, however, only laughed quietly as he slowly stood up and wiped slowly at his muzzle, his eyes narrowed coldly. "Oh please. I've absorbed the memories of enough souls to have a grasp of the strange emotions of you creatures... and I can tell panic in a voice when I hear it."

"Wait, you're the one murdering all those people, my... my old acquaintances?" Zerrex asked sharply, but this time it was the Strange Beast who frowned back, tilting his head.

"What are you talking about? Or are these new creatures so important to you you've gone out and befriended every single one?" The Strange Beast looked disgusted at this thought, and then he spat: "I wish I could find your new friends and Disciples, but sadly, I was told not to by a mutual acquaintance of ours. One who I don't think will complain that I've gone ahead of schedule and decided to make you dead."

"Oh great, the plot thickens." Zerrex muttered, and then he glared at the Strange Beast, adding coldly: "So does this partner of yours have a name? Do you even have a name? Or should I just call you 'The New Asshole In My Life?'"

"You can call him God, because he's going to be a far better one than you ever were, Naganis." the Strange Beast said nastily, and Zerrex's teeth ground together in frustration before the creature added imperiously as he straightened to his full height: "You may call me Eratosthenes if you must call me a name, however."

"Astronomical." the reptile deadpanned, and then he clenched his right hand into a fist before bringing his arm up in front of himself as the scales fell away from it, the warped material shifting and his hand growing in size before it solidified into smooth silver, and now the Strange Beast's eyes widened in shock. "Yeah, I told you, I'm not Naganis."

Eratosthenes only snarled at this, however, then rose a hand as it glowed with golden energy... but Zerrex lunged forwards, smashing his fist into the creature's stomach and knocking the wind from the Chanter as he wheezed loudly and bent forwards in a bow over the fist buried into his gut, eyes full of pain and horror before the reptile swung his arm around and brought his metallic elbow up, then slammed it hard down into the back of the creature's neck, sending him crashing to the ground in a stunned heap.

The reptile readied himself... and the Strange Beast didn't move, only curling up a bit on the ground as he breathed hard in and out through his mouth, and the reptile felt a moment of pity for him as he looked down at the creature, saying dryly: "Not exactly used to being hit, are you, Error?"

"Eratosthenes..." the Strange Beast wheezed, pushing his hands against the ground... and Zerrex shook his head before he felt a tickle run down his spine, and he had enough time to frown before the ground beneath his feet exploded upwards in a rocky pillar, and the lizard was sent flying backwards, crashing and rolling painfully into the library archway. Immediately, he leapt to his feet... and then the pillar of stone shot towards him, and the lizard winced before he swung his metallic fist out with a snarl, and the immense battering ram of rock shattered into fragments that flew in all directions before the lizard cursed in frustration as the Strange Beast grinned at him victoriously, a swirling, glowing Gateway open behind him.

He rose a hand and waved even as he held his stomach with his other hand, saying darkly: "This isn't over, Naga-"

"It's Zerrex!" the Drakkaren shouted furiously, his eyes glowing green as he lashed out with his mind in sudden fury, and the Strange Beast was slammed backwards into the Gateway, vanishing into it before the portal closed with a spark of energy. Then the reptile winced a bit as he straightened and rubbed at his head slowly, feeling a tinge of embarrassment fill his cheeks as he mumbled: "Probably. Should have used my mind powers to grab him and yank him over here instead of... right."

He paused for a few long moments as he looked down at his feet... and then he grimaced a bit as he looked slowly back and forth along the entrance hall of the Unworld Manse before raising his hands and breathing a sigh of relief as the debris vanished and the damage in the floor repaired itself. He couldn't match the tile pattern and coloration exactly, and he felt drained now, as he shook his head a bit... but even though Maria would still be mad as hell at him for not calling her, she would have been a lot more pissed coming back and finding the hall in ruins. "Even though I'm probably still dead either way... goddammit. I'll have to ask Celeste about him later... Error the Librarer. Kind of has a ring to it."

The reptile glanced back and forth, and then he headed towards the library, beginning to pick up fallen books and carefully piling them back on the table and shelves. For a librarian, Eratosthenes hadn't exactly been respectful of books... and the reptile couldn't help but smile dryly to himself as he picked up one of Camus's leather-bound notebooks, absently reaching down to smooth out of one of the dog-eared pages before his eyes caught on the article, and he frowned a bit before murmuring: "Wait, that's... my name."

On the one hand, the Drakkaren knew he should probably try and resist... and on the other, he was curious. As always, despite the consequences... curiosity won, and he began to read. A very strange event occurred today: as I was charting information, I detected a massive, abnormal energy spike in the Unworld. As such spikes most often occur only when a Broken is being formed, I decided to investigate, admittedly with some eagerness.

What I discovered instead were two creatures engaged in combat, one of them a demon, the other some kind of hybrid between Broken and monster. The hybrid, however, lacked the tough outer shell that most Broken possess, and it was quickly being dissolved by the Unworld's toxic influence... however, the demon was flagging rapidly as well.

I'm sure neither of them recognized this, locked in combat as they were, but the ferocity of their entrance and the battle caused an energy spike that distorted time in the Unworld and was already beginning to draw a crowd. I kept the Unworld Beings at bay as long as I could through force of will, but they never obey for long: they are mindless and composed of broken pieces of souls. Neither the most indomitable will nor the most wicked of threats can stall their unreasonable existence.

The demon killed the Broken: he used a holy artifact, and it was this and the fact that he was exuding such a curious energy signature that drew my attention to him. I decided to make him part of my research... and it was not difficult to figure out his name. Even though he seemed to give in to death, something reached down from Hell and plucked him to safety, despite the fact he was rife with Unworld essence. I followed shortly, staying at a distance, but the demons were consumed with ceremony and respect, as demons often are. They crowned him High King, even though I could feel the fear and agony radiating off him; his name was Zerrex Narrius.

This demon possesses a unique energy identifier. I must find out more about him: he could very well be the missing link I've dreamed about all these years. References Period 1:04:25:23 J25 and 1:05:24:01 J6.

Zerrex grimaced a bit as he closed the logbook, shaking his head slowly before he murmured: "Camus, goddammit. How much did you know about me? How much did you never tell me?" He stopped, then shook his head a bit as he tossed the book down on the tabletop before he sat down in a chair, rubbing his hands slowly through his ivory hair. "I wish you were here... not just so I could punch you in the face, but because you would probably know exactly what these Strange Beasts are..."

The reptile sighed... then he looked at the logbooks for a moment before picking one up as he realized that if Camus ever had discovered the existence of these creatures - and the Drakkaren knew he had, because Camus had mentioned them more than once, calling them Guardians and Servants - his notes on them would all be here. The Drakkaren snorted as he opened a book at random, then grimaced as he realized how long it would take to find the answers just trying to read through each book-by-book... he only wished there was some kind of master glossary somewhere.

The lizard paused for a moment, however, thinking of how most of the articles had references, and how goddamn OCD Camus was about his organization, even with his messy research and messier notation... and the reptile got quickly up to his feet before he headed into the hall, knowing that he should probably call Maria but figuring that the task of her hunting down Theophilius was a much better use of her time... and it also let him avoid the inevitable scolding he was going to get from her, as well.

The reptile made his way through the Unworld Manse, heading not to the storerooms this time, but instead towards the eastern wing of the second floor... and he shivered a bit as he passed by several display cases containing artifacts from the Center of the Universe, as he always did. For some reason, they filled him with unease, even if they were just runed bits of pottery and a few broken pieces of stone tablet... but he kept himself moving nonetheless, not lingering as he walked towards a large, redwood door.

As always, the reptile absently knocked once before he pushed the door open, as if he was expecting to find Camus in here... and the reptile smiled faintly at this old habit as unease turned to a pall of sadness. The room was messy, bed made but the covers smudged as if someone often sat on top of it, a small table littered with broken pieces of stone tablet that would never be put back together, the shelves opposite the bed stuffed with papers and a few booklets. Zerrex walked towards the last, trying to push away the gloom as he reached carefully up and drew his fingers through the pile of papers... and then he shook his head slowly, murmuring quietly: "Well, let's try not to get too bogged down, right Zerrex? Here to do a job."

Still, the reptile hesitated as he grasped the side of the shelf, glancing up to the top level of the furnishing: here, almost hidden in secret, were several ancient books on the Unity religion and philosophy. Among them was one of Camus's favorite stories, about a male who had to endure the punishment of rolling a rock up a hill, only for it to fall back down and the process to be repeated all over again... and yet still, he managed to find enjoyment in the journey. The reptile smiled a little at this thought, shaking his head after a moment before he stepped away from the shelves, muttering: "Now, on to serious matters... Maria knows you have master lists of everything, so you must have also kept a glossary somewhere. All this time in the Unworld, after all, you'd need to spend it doing... well... something."

The reptile shook his head out, but he knew the arrangement of the Broken's shelves: maps, essays, document papers, and profile sheets of various creatures Camus had encountered and studied over the years, many of them beings like Zerrex, who could manipulate energy to one degree or another... and the reptile forced away the gloomy thoughts before they could descend, instead turning around to the bedside table and feeling around beneath it until he grasped a hidden handle, pulling out a long, secreted drawer.

Camus kept a small Unity bible here that was scrawled from top-to-bottom with notes: funny, the one book Camus made notes in was the one of the religion he'd been a cardinal of while mortal... but then again, with how mass-produced and altered the bible was from its original state and meaning, it was no disrespect for the Broken to have jotted all over it. Even more so because the notes Camus did make were all sharp observations about form, structure, and syntax, indicating when such-and-such revision was likely made to the bible and in places, even guessing by which religious official... but every now and then, a passage was underlined and a '?' left beside it. These, Zerrex had learned, were supposed to be passages from what Camus vaguely referred to as the 'True Religion' in his essays, something deeper than philosophy or Unity or organizations, the so-called source of true faith.

The reptile moved this aside for now, and he picked up a thin white book: Camus's personal journal. The reptile hesitated, looking at it as he always did, bound with a single strap around the middle and tempted to read it... but he finally sighed and put it back as he always did, muttering: "If Camus wants me to read it one day, I'll... I'll know, whether he's gone or not. Until then I'll respect his privacy, just in case he comes back like I have so many goddamn times."

Zerrex gave a grumble of frustration at himself, and then he turned and booted the bed irritably... and then he frowned a bit as he heard a scraping as well as the vibrations of the mattress. The lizard reached down and carefully lifted the top mattress off the base spring... and then he stared at a large, gold-colored binder, clearly marked 'Appendix' across the front of it, and the lizard grinned stupidly as he reached out and picked it up, muttering: "Camus, you uncreative bastard."

He knew why this of all things had been hidden, as he eagerly opened it and scanned the table of contents, which had been neatly arranged in alphabetical order: with this in hand, anyone could come in and dig out any piece of information they wanted from Camus's notebooks. It was likely just a collection of references with minor strips of detail here and there for the more-important or more-elusive things, but that alone was enough was more than enough to guide a person to what was necessary...

But without understanding what they were getting into, it was well possible someone greedy would look up something like the location of the Center of the Universe, and how to build a Nexus Portal to take them there, since it was far too immense a jump for even most gods to make... and a power-hungry idiot could easily try to tap into the statues of the First Gods to try and steal their energies. Disharmonious Energy, however, would kill, corrupt, or worst of all, completely take over a person's mind... even Zerrex's body couldn't handle more than the tiniest bit of it, and only when it came from the statue of Creation.

He wondered if even Camus had known that the energy resonating in each of the six statues was different: they were like six distinct, ever-growing and ever-dying souls, longing to be free but at the same time trapped in their confines as they folded in on themselves even as they lunged and clawed outwards. Maybe they were the true remains of the First Gods... and yet Zerrex doubted it. He thought that at the end of the day, the Statues were Constructs, and they contained only a tiny, immeasurable fraction of the powers the First Gods had once had... but it always made him shudder to wonder what had been so powerful, then, it had been capable of destroying the mightiest beings in the universe?

He shook these thoughts off as he instead began to page his way through the glossary... and once his eyes settled on 'Guardians, First Gods' and the associated reference numbers, he quickly headed out of Camus's room, his mala clinking quietly around his neck as he made his way back to the storeroom. A quick scan of the books told him he was in the wrong one, however, so the reptile went next door... to another storeroom where not only the wall shelves had been filled, but additional metal shelf units had been stuffed to bursting with more of the black, clearly-labeled booklets.

There were several more rooms like this, literally thousands of notebooks filled by Camus over countless years... and Zerrex grimaced as he began to wade his way through the shelves, mumbling under his breath as he tried to match up reference numbers. Eventually, he found one of the research books, and the lizard pulled it out of the shelf and then sat cross-legged on the floor with a grunt, putting the gold binder aside so he could start reading up on the information Camus had dredged up on the Strange Beasts.

The reptile wasn't sure if it was a little or a lot; Camus had detailed out the lore he'd found regarding them, and some of the first written stories that talked about great heroes, legendary crusaders, and honorable servants of the First Gods. Zerrex guessed in most of the stories, these were references to Chanters, and maybe Leviathans, or maybe some different kind of Strange Beast altogether: what was much clearer was when Camus talked about the legends that mentioned the 'loyal but bestial guardians of the old places;' Vipers.

While it gave a lot of insight to their intended purposes and where they had originally sat in the grand scheme of things when the First Gods had been alive, it didn't detail a lot they didn't already know. In fact, Zerrex thought the studies they had already done on the creatures had provided them with more information than Camus had, at least physiologically-speaking: Strange Beasts didn't have the same kind of nervous or organ systems that most of the creatures throughout the universe had in common, after all.

One big for example was the fact that cutting their heads off blinded them to a degree, but all it really did was piss them off. They could still sense where their prey was, and neither movement nor any of their supernatural abilities were inhibited: this was due to the fact that the monsters had a combined heart-and-brain organ that pulsed not in their breast, but towards the left side of their back, thick and gelatinous, one side constantly inflating and thrumming, visibly bloating with blood and air, the other side run through with veins that burned in white matter. Worse yet, this super-organ was protected by large plates of bone in the backs of the creature, and the almost-solid front: not only were their inner organs surrounded by stiff walls of flesh, their ribs weren't separated, but instead huge, wavy lengths of ridged bone that went from collarbone all the way down to their lower abdomen in a half-hourglass shape.

One thing Camus noted that Zerrex wasn't aware of, however, was that the Strange Beasts rigidly followed a hierarchy unless a 'heretic' was detected in their midst. Celeste, for example, would be considered a heretic for abandoning her brethren... but had she not turned away from her kin, she would have been considered nobility, and no Strange Beast would be able to deny her... except, perhaps, for Error. The reptile muttered under his breath at the list Camus had made of their jobs and positions, realizing that Error must be very high up the food chain... and that meant he could likely order around any of the Strange Beasts he happened to encounter, even other Chanters. Great... I really should have dusted him when I had the chance. He might even be the head honcho right now... and gods above, if he was willing to risk all that just to get a chance to take a swing at me... he must be insanely-angry about something.

Zerrex grimaced at this, rubbing at his face slowly and not liking the implications of this: he had dealt with many different kinds of foes over the years, after all, but the worst were always the ones who had plenty of power at their disposal... and yet were so hellbent on revenge or destruction that they just kept wildly attacking, no matter what the cost. Eratosthenes likely would never stop until he had either achieved his goal and killed him... or he was killed himself.

The reptile rubbed at his face slowly, and then he shook his head a bit as he forced himself to focus on the task at hand, not letting himself get bogged down in nervous anxiety or regrets about the past. Instead, he continued to work on researching the Strange Beasts for the next few hours, following the shelves around and resisting the temptation to flip to the Z-column in the contents and find if his own name was listed there as well.

When Maria eventually found him, almost ten hours later, the reptile was still sitting in the storeroom, absently playing with his mala in one hand, leather notebooks piled all around him and the golden binder opened to a back page, past several master lists and instead browsing through theoretical profile sheets that Camus had put together on the First Gods, detailing their position in the universe, what their vows may have been, why they were compelled to work together... and what may have happened to them.

The Broken leaned in the doorway, gazing down at him softly, and the Drakkaren smiled awkwardly up at her after a moment before he asked carefully: "So uh. Any luck?"

"Are you okay? It looked like there was some kind of struggle... was it Negative?" Maria asked quietly, and the reptile smiled embarrassedly as he shook his head, the Broken tilting her head with a frown. "Did Unworld Beings get inside, or... another Broken?"

"It was a Strange Beast, actually..." Zerrex winced back as Maria covered her muzzle in surprise. "Please don't hit me."

"Grandfather, are you okay? You should have called but... I'm more worried about you. I'm not going to hit you, don't be silly." The Broken leaned down and quietly touched the side of his face, before her eyes roved downwards... and she stared at the sight of the gold binder, murmuring: "The... the master index, where did you find it? I thought Camus had destroyed it, to stop anyone from stealing the information inside of it..."

"He'd just hidden it in a really bad hiding spot. It's no wonder none of us could ever find it, we never looked in the most obvious place." Zerrex said quietly, and the female smiled quietly at him as she knelt in front of him, reaching down to touch the binder almost reverently. The Drakkaren gazed at her softly for a few moments, and then he reached a hand up to stroke her face gently, saying softly: "I think you should be the one to keep it and hold onto it, though. Me, I can't be trusted with stuff like this and... it really would not be good if some wandering Old God managed to sneak his way down here and figured out that Athéos's original madness stemmed from the Center of the Universe."

Maria nodded, blushing deep red as she whispered: "I'd... I'd be honored, grandfather..." She stopped herself when Zerrex gave her a look, and then she smiled a little, saying quietly: "Zerrex, I mean. I'd be honored, Zerrex. My good, good friend Zerrex."

She leaned forwards and hugged him fiercely, and he hugged her firmly back before they drew apart, the two looking at each other softly for a few moments. He knew how important Camus was to her, after all, and that she may very well have suffered even more than he did when the Broken died... so he wanted to do all he could to help her cherish his memory. The two gazed at each other warmly, and then she sat back and picked up the binder, hugging it against her body and closing her eyes as the Drakkaren laughed a bit and stood with a grunt, carefully slipping his prayer beads back around his neck. "Anyway. I did some research on the Strange Beasts, but there wasn't a lot more than lore and legend. I'm pretty sure the one that attacked me is a big-shot, though... even if he wasn't nearly as able to take a beating as the other ones we've met so far were, he had... really, really weird powers, and... he was just so full of hate and anger..."

Zerrex shook his head slowly, and Maria nodded before she reached out and touched his forearm, saying softly: "Then at least we've seen a bit of what's coming for you, Zerrex. We'll prepare... and at least now you have something to share with Lucifer and Lord as well. I'm sure they'll be very interested to hear about this new opponent that was able to track you down even here."

"I don't want to go to Heaven." Zerrex muttered grouchily, and Maria sighed before gently taking his wrist and pulling herself up to her feet, before she smiled at him as he looked at her curiously.

"Heaven is where the heart is, Lord Zerrex, much like home. Now come on, let me tell you about Theophilius." Maria said softly, and the Drakkaren nodded with a smile to her as she pulled him out towards the hallway.

The lizard grumbled to himself as Maria finished brushing his hair gently, the reptile fidgeting in his blue dress shirt and black jeans: she had insisted that he at least try to look nice, since he was going to meet the leaders of Heaven, and she thought it was probably for the best that he make a good impression if they were going to be questioning him about the murders that had taken place up there.

Zerrex was much more interested in the topic of Theophilius: while over the last three days Maria hadn't managed to catch more than a glimpse of the Broken, she had located the position of his rift... and noted that there were indeed Unworld Beings around the area that acted unnaturally calm and lucid, silent and never speaking, but a few of them even dressed-up in frock coats and wigs, and one even carrying a walking stick. And inside the rift, it had been even stranger: Theophilius had somehow attached pictures to the ceiling and furniture to the walls as well as the tables and chair sets along the floor, and it was impossible to tell what was actually up and down: gravity didn't seem to exist, but instead any surface Maria walked on seemed to exert a natural pull that kept her feet stable and her head from ringing with vertigo.

His rift was almost entirely made of marble and grass, and Unworld Beings in coveralls and large, helms decorated with hearts had been hastily painting a series of bushes of red roses black. This had amused the Drakkaren enormously: the truly amazing part of the story, however, had been the fact that Maria had found a humongous chessboard, the black and white squares each at least two feet by two feet wide, and the pieces so tall they came up to her waist... and the pawns on each side had been exquisitely-detailed Vipers in a variety of poses, the rooks Leviathans, the knights Viper Aegis bearing their heavy shields, the bishops Chanters... and on one side of the board, the King and Queen had been replaced by a statuette of Creation and one of a female Strange Beast she thought was likely Celeste, and on the other, in gleaming black stone, had been a statue of some kind of creature she simply could not describe, with a chained-down beast in the queen's position.

The chessboard had been set up in a narrow doorway: she had tried to get past it, but the moment she'd attempted to step through the doorway, the black pawns had all moved forwards and formed a knee-high wall. Maria had tried to rip a hole in the rift to pass through the wall, but Theophilius had engineered his own little pocket dimension craftily, and she had only managed to send herself back to the start of the dimension... and an Unworld Being wearing one of the funny heart-dotted helms had approached her calmly and held out a note to her.

It had said simply that she had to play by the rules if she wanted to move forwards, and signed by Theophilius himself... and the Broken had been frustrated, but had made her way back to the chessboard. Peering beyond the doorway, there had only been a single room, with a single table, with a single chair... but resting upon the table was an envelope with her name on it, resting against a large glass bottle. It had been clear enough what the devious, crazy Theophilius wanted her to do... and she had spent two hours playing a frustrating game of chess against the black chess pieces themselves, which moved of their own volition, and often erratically, not following any set rules she knew at all as they jumped all over the board.

So finally, not knowing what else to do, Maria had returned here. Zerrex had pondered the riddle for a while, then said she should go back and try again: and for two days, Maria had done this. Finally, yesterday, she had solved the chessboard puzzle, mostly due to a fit of unladylike anger: when the black pieces had started hopping all over the place, she'd swung a foot out and kicked the head off one of the Viper statues, and it had crumbled away to dust. Immediately, the other black pieces had looked at her with terror... and Maria had admitted she had taken great delight in stomping onto the board and shredding the rest of the chess pieces with the chains she was capable of conjuring from thin air.

The reptile had reflected on how despite her ladylike upbringing, she had still gotten plenty of her family's spirit... and Maria had finally gotten her hands on the letter. It had simply noted that Theophilius was 'taking a vacation,' however, and that he would return to his rift at some point after he had 'recovered from his tragic ordeal involving two bees in one bonnet.' But it had also invited her to leave her name and address, so Maria had thought for a little while, then written down 'Ravenlight Estate, Elysium, Hell' on the back of the letter and left it on the table.

Now, here they were: they had done and researched as much as they could over the last four days between Maria's trips to Theophilius's rift and Zerrex knew by now he was only trying to put off his trip to Heaven. So Maria was getting him ready and they would be leaving shortly for Elysium, where they would probably waste an hour or two waiting for the wolves. Then they could head up to the white planet reputed to be paradise... except that paradise, as Zerrex had discovered, was far overrated.

Maria finished combing his hair back, and she began to braid it gently as she said softly: "Now, Zerrex. Would you like me to return here after I bring you to Elysium? Or should I head to the Cloister and await your command there?"

"Why don't you find a safe place to store Camus's binder and the few logbooks we're taking with us, and then make yourself comfortable in the Estate? You never use your room there anymore, Maria, it's getting all dusty." Zerrex smiled a bit, and Maria laughed quietly as she finished tightening his braid back, shaking her head with a soft smile at his back.

"Well, Lord Zerrex, that's because the Deep Temple and the Cloister are very comfortable for me... they're both full of all kinds of radiant energy, and it's where I can be the most useful to you. Besides... not everyone has forgotten or forgiven Camus for what occurred almost a decade ago... just as people still blame many gods for the doings of Athéos and the Old Gods." Maria murmured softly. "Thor, Loki, and Gilgamesh... I... do you think they're doing okay?"

Zerrex nodded a bit, replying quietly: "I know they are, Maria. Gilgamesh enjoys his new post as one of Vivien's Hunter-Seekers, even if the job keeps him away from Elysium a lot on business... and Thor and Loki have settled in nicely in Hez'Ranna. Loki's even cooling off some now from the bastard he used to be."

Maria smiled a little at this, then she grasped his shoulders and kissed the side of his neck gently before the Drakkaren turned around, and he took her hands quietly, their eyes meeting as they smiled to one-another. "I hate the way people treat you sometimes, Maria, but it's only the people who don't understand, who don't even know you, who are too quick to judge others for their outward appearance and... who aren't important at all in the grand scheme of things, okay?" He reached up, stroking under her chin quietly. "And you know I don't abide visitors who disrespect my friends and family and Disciples in the Ravenlight Estate. It's not just my home, after all... it's our home. It belongs to all of us, from the penthouse and galleria to the subbasements."

"I know, grandfather, I know." she squeezed his hands quietly, looking both abashed and happy at the same time. "And it means a lot to me that it does... to see you treat your whole family with such love and respect, but... I feel like I take things too personally at times, and my sensitive upbringing means... I mean..."

She blushed a bit as she realized her accent, her old way of talking was slipping in, and she cleared her throat before looking at him quietly and saying clearly: "I think I need a thicker skin sometimes. It's just... hard to remember at times that things some people say... they don't mean seriously, or they treat it with disdain because they treat all with such lack of feeling. And I am a Broken... how can I hold it against people to be wary of me?"

Zerrex smiled softly at this, gently pulling one of his hands free to stroke under her muzzle as he said gently: "But you're also a person, Maria. And all people, from you to Celeste, from the lowest demon to the highest angel, deserve to be treated as people, until they throw away that right. You're a person, not a monster, not a beast."

She smiled up at him lovingly, nodding slowly and blushing deeply... and then the two hugged firmly before she murmured against his chest softly: "Thank you, grandfather."

Zerrex smiled softly... and then he winced as a rift opened beneath their feet, squeezing her tighter as she laughed quietly and they began to sink downwards, the reptile muttering: "You're a bitch, too. I don't wanna go."

"Oh stop it." Maria chastised, and she reached out as they sank waist-deep into the rift to snatch up a chain sack which contained the notebooks and the golden binder, pulling it close to their sides before she looked lovingly into her grandfather's eyes, and the reptile couldn't help but smile before they were surrounded by darkness. It burned around them, blinding and deep and ominous... but a moment later, they emerged into the front hall of the Ravenlight Estate, and the lizard wheezed quietly before he rubbed at his face slowly as she stepped away and nodded to him. "If you need me at all..."

"I'll call. I know, I know, I said that last time, too, but... this time I really will if something comes up." Zerrex said softly, and Maria smiled a bit at him before the Drakkaren added: "Oh, right, you know I've been working on that too, right?"

She tilted her head curiously, and the Drakkaren reached a hand up to tug his prayer beads out from under his shirt, feeling along them before squeezing into one bead and concentrating... and a few moments later, a portal opened and Lone and Mahihko stumbled through it, the wolves looking warmly up at Zerrex as the smaller lupine bounced on his paws. "Hi Daddy! We're almost ready, okay?"

Zerrex smiled amusedly at the two: Lone was a little pale, but Mahihko seemed energetic, his anxieties gone for the moment as he continued in a rush: "See, we just gotta find what to wear and what to bring and think about what to say and what to do and we're so excited!"

"Did you wolves tell someone about what Raze found?" Zerrex asked curiously, and Mahihko looked at him dumbly, but Lone sighed and rolled his eyes, nodding as he put the little wolf in a headlock, making him squeal and flail his arms around uselessly.

"Yeah, Dad, we told Serenity, she said she'd pass it on and that you should probably head to the Throne Room yourself when you got back here." Lone replied with a bit of a smile, and the reptile nodded with a grunt. He hesitated, but the wolf only smiled a little wider, answering before the lizard could ask: "You were gone for about half an hour. I guess you must have been down there for quite a while, 'less there was some time-skip."

"Just a minor energy flux, then." Maria said thoughtfully, and Zerrex nodded: he felt relieved if anything, however: it wasn't so short Raze would have been unable to get up to Heaven or information moved around, and it wasn't so long that he'd have left Lord and Lucifer waiting for an obnoxious amount of time. "Do you want me to come with you to the Throne Room?"

"No, you can babysit the wolves." Zerrex said mildly, and Lone sulked at the use of the word 'babysit' even as Mahihko giggled and clapped his hands gleefully. "Help 'em get ready... well... help Mahihko get ready... and then I'll come and pick them up here once I'm done with Vivien, okay?"

Maria nodded, and Zerrex reached out and cupped her cheek as he kissed her forehead, making her smile warmly before he patted the two wolves on the head. They gazed up at him affectionately, and the reptile smiled before turning as he concentrated, vanishing from the spot and reappearing on top of one of the large balconies.

He found Serenity standing outside the doors, her arms crossed and looking unsurprised to see him, the Amazons on either side of her at curt attention even as one of them kept looking nervously towards the Pride demoness... and Zerrex rubbed at the back of his head before he winced when she said dryly: "Being both your Iuratus Captain as well as a combat psychic, I felt a very brief twinge a few minutes ago. Want to tell me what you picked a fight with?"

"Actually, something picked a fight with me, and... I'm on a schedule, Serenity, so... get out of my way." Zerrex looked at her pointedly, but she only glared back, and the reptile cleared his throat as he added lamely: "You know, if you beat me, it doesn't make you a very good protector, now does it?"

"It does when I'm protecting you against your own goddamned self." Serenity muttered, and then she sighed and turned around, shoving the double doors to the Throne Room open as she added under her breath: "I am not letting you out of my sight."

Zerrex grumbled to himself, mumbling in return as he passed her: "We'll see about that." Then he cleared his throat as he headed towards the large center table, frowning a bit in surprise as he noted it was almost empty, the only faces present Vivien, Mercy, and Ixin. "Where the hell is everyone?"

"I had them go into recess after Serenity arrived." Vivien responded mildly, and the reptile winced a bit at her tone: either she was about to yell at him or something serious had happened. Then he frowned a bit when she looked down, before sighing and glancing over at Ixin, gesturing to him. "Go ahead."

Ixin nodded, the mage standing up and leaning on the table, his features serious as he said quietly: "I hate to tell you this, Zerrex, but some crafty fuck has left some pretty big marks all over any place you've ever visited. See, Vivien stopped me from bouncing out of my merry way 'cause she was worried about you, and while I thought it was just her raging hormones acting up at first, she... she was right."

He grimaced a bit, rubbing at his face slowly and laughing flatly. "Fuck me, I can't even get a good rise out of anyone and my comic timing's all gone. What I'm saying is I isolated Enochian runes all over your goddamn mansion, painted with the blood of pure, virgin angels. Now that shit is hard as hell to get your hands on anywhere, and because it's so high in so-called 'purity,' it gives off a distinct resonance. Sure, it's got some fancy alchemical uses and mortal loves to tell legends about the stuff, but in reality? It's just a really, really, really high-class, hard-to-detect homing beacon."

Ixin glanced at Vivien, and she motioned for him to go on, but the mage only shrugged, muttering: "What the hell else can I say? I did my scrying thing on your mansion, and poof, there it was. I looked at your Cloister and Sin's Tower and that pretty little nightmare cottage, poof, there's some more. I could do a wide scan of Hell, and I'm sure I'd turn out all kinds of other marks everywhere."

"What are the runes?" Zerrex asked quietly, gritting his teeth, and Ixin smiled a little as he looked over at him with faint entertainment.

"Just... your name in the old angel's language, that's all." the mage murmured, shaking his head slowly. "Ain't written the prettiest... hell, someone might have even just ordered some lackeys, 'put this shit on this shit for me,' and paid 'em just enough coin to do a good job of it and keep their mouths shut."

"Wonderful. What about the murders, are they connected?" Zerrex rubbed at his face slowly, and Ixin looked thoughtful for a moment before he pulled out a vial of red liquid from his belt, and the Drakkaren walked towards the table to lean on it, watching with the others as the mage carefully spilled this in a circle on the surface of the furnishing.

He looked down into it, mumbling under his breath as he put the vial aside and carefully swirled the crimson, glowing fluid with a finger... and as the liquid spread in a circular puddle, it slowly hardened, become red glass that reflected the mage's features before shimmering as Ixin closed his eyes and reached down to touch his fingertips against the glass, saying clearly: "Victor Hellabos. Home."

The red glass glowed, and images played through it before it centered in on a large stone house surrounded by heavy metal gates, stylized after Hez'Rannan architecture and with a few visible ornaments from the Cradle of Life resting in the windows... and then Ixin put a finger in his muzzle and blew a short, undulating note... and a moment later, the same sound echoed up from the glass, but deeper and darker, as a splattering of ugly, bleeding runes appeared over the front door of the house.

Then the glass cracked apart and became liquid again as Ixin removed his fingers from the side of it, and he grimaced in disgust, muttering: "Well, there you have it, Boss. Seems safe to say that whoever put Hellabos on ice is probably following the guy splashing these runes over shit, if he ain't the same one... the real question is whether or not he's going after people in a specific order or just hunting according to the runes."

Zerrex shook his head slowly as he looked over at Vivien, and she smiled wryly, saying dryly: "You've put me in a bit of a bind here, Zerrex. I don't know how I can safely put your friends and family under protection without showing favoritism... just as I don't know how I can ignore the fact your friends and family are being systematically targeted at the same time. Especially now that Lord and Lucifer have requested an audience with you... by the way, why are you here instead of there?"

"I'm going, I'm going. You think I got all nicely dressed-up just to talk to you?" Zerrex motioned at his dress shirt, and the Celestial Devil sighed as she rubbed at her forehead slowly, before looking up as the reptile said plainly: "Anyway, just put a request in to the courts for large-scale citizenship protection under the Actual Threat Act."

"I... what?" Everyone present stared at him, and the reptile blushed a bit even as he cleared his throat and rubbed awkwardly at his skull, glowering back and forth at the others. "You... did you just quote a legal precedent?"

"For the last goddamn time, Sabnock mentored me, so my specialty is in the justice system." Zerrex mumbled, and then he cleared his throat and nodded after a moment, continuing in a drier voice: "Although Hell's military and the Royal Guards are usually used for... pretty much any and all events, Hell's police officers can be called in to help protect citizens in the event of real and actualized danger, especially when there's a severe threat to body or life present. Someone's killing people for no good reason, and you can send a motion to Sabnock or Thoth or even White, and they can approve to have a safe-zone set up - like say, the Ravenlight Estate - and people moved there and in the surrounding area, and a taskforce of officers assigned to watch the place. And of course, it's not like all the people I know are completely defenseless. My Iuratus and Disciples already qualify as 'private bodyguards' and Sabnock registered them for me one year as a birthday present under the Protectors Act, meaning they can legally beat people up and act as members of the courts when it's necessary for them to."

Vivien was still staring at him, and Zerrex glowered at her, putting his hands on his hips and saying flatly: "I was High King for ten million years, and whether I've forgotten a lot of crap or not, I still remember most of it. Not to mention the fact that I do take my job as ambassador more seriously than you dunderheads might believe."

"Lucifer's face, why can't you ever act intelligent when I actually need you to?" Vivien groaned and grabbed at her head, dropping her elbows on the table before she reached up and seized Zerrex's collar without looking when he started to open his mouth, yanking him down so he was eye-level with her, and the reptile swallowed and winced a bit as she glared at him, her other hand buried in her long blonde hair. "Can you promise me that this isn't going to tax Elysium's resources right now? Between the Strange Beasts and the problems with Eslovius, I can't afford to put your personal problems before that of the nation."

Zerrex nodded and gently pried her hand free of his collar, straightening and brushing at his dress shirt as he said carefully: "I can, but... it'll be much less of a strain, and probably put fewer people in danger, too, if you let me move some of these people into Acheron, as well..."

"Do whatever you have to do, Zerrex. I'll authorize it under an emergency refuge excuse or something." Vivien rubbed slowly at her temples with a sigh, and then she looked at him darkly. "So how often have I asked the council for ideas on how to take care of this idea or that idea, and you've stayed silent and twiddled your thumbs when you damn well knew the answer, leaving me to spend hours digging through old law textbooks until I found some loophole?"

The Drakkaren cleared his throat and glanced awkwardly at Serenity, and Vivien shook her head slowly, muttering: "If you weren't about to go to a meeting with Archangel Lucifer himself, I would be skinning you alive right now, Zerrex. I understand it's my job to make the decisions but I could use the advice of Hell's second High King every now and then, especially as he's also the one who ruled for the longest."

"Only if you consider delegating all my duties to the other High Thrones 'ruling,' Vivien." He stopped, then smiled a bit, hesitantly reaching out to squeeze her shoulder, but she didn't even look up at him as she rubbed at her face slowly with both hands. "You're doing a fine job, High Queen."

Vivien glanced towards him, then she shook her head even as Mercy smiled supportively at her, glancing over at the High Princess before her eyes returned to Zerrex, and she nodded after a moment with a mutter: "Fine, then. Get out of here, go to your meeting in Heaven, Zerrex. I'll call the council into session and announce the intent, then have the request brought to whatever Judge is on active duty. The council and I will have to discuss who should receive this protection, however... we can't offer it to every person you've ever come across in your life."

"Well, there's kind of a pattern." Ixin said helpfully, and Zerrex looked at him curiously as the mage grinned a bit. "Hey, I'm smarter than the average bean-bag, you know, even if I don't always act like it. But if you're gonna be good at magic, you gotta be good at catching how things work.

"Now listen, these people are from Zerrex's past, right?" He tapped his fingers against the table, glancing back and forth as his grin toned down to a slight smile. "But they aren't people Zerrex would catch a direct whiff of if something happened to them... but at the same time, they ain't people completely disconnected to you, isn't that right?" The Drakkaren nodded, and the mage nodded back after a moment. "So the guy started at the outer edge of the circle: distant acquaintances from the past. But a lot of people recognized the name Hellabos, not 'cause he was a monarch of Hez'Ranna, mortal titles mean dick around here, but because the guy was the guy who brought back the Red Beast, who is still an urban legend in Hell mommies tell to their kiddies so they'll behave at night. You know, get in the corruption bath or the Red Beast will come and gobble you up!"

Ixin curled his fingers into claws and gnashed his teeth a few times, and then he cleared his throat at the sour look Zerrex gave him. "What I'm saying is that it looks like the dude is moving inwards. Most of Zerrex's closer friends and shit, they're here in Hell. But the murders started in Heaven, right? So the murderer goes to a huge distance, kills some people in Heaven, probably retreats here to Hell. He gets more confidence, he goes after people Zerrex probably knew better." Ixin put one hand on one side of the table, drawing his other finger slowly towards this. "He kills a guy in Hell. Closer physically to where our good ugly friend here hangs out, closer memory-wise too, I'm willing to bet. Then the dude kills again as he gets more confident, and then he kills a demon we know for a fact is connected to Zerrex, that Zerrex obviously remembers dealing with in the past, and that is not low-ball on the power scale, either.

"In short, the guy's confidence is going up... and so is his bloodlust." Ixin became serious suddenly, his features cold as he brought his hands close together. "See that? Murdering Hellabos, that's gonna give him enough of a self-esteem boost the fucker's going to go after someone a lot closer to you now, Zerrex. And a lot stronger too, I'd be willing to bet, or at least a lot more important to you, important enough that if this shit hadn't been pointed out to you, it would have probably drawn your attention. The real question, though, and the scary question, is this: are you the big prize? Or is this guy some psycho-stalker who just wants your autograph, preferably in your own blood?"

Zerrex grimaced a bit, feeling chilled by this sentiment... and then the mage smiled, putting his hands behind his head and winking. "But hey, who knows? Maybe we'll all get lucky and he'll go after Vivien next. She's still in the 'acquaintance but not someone I've banged' category, right?"

Vivien glared at the mage, her eyes glowing gold, and Ixin immediately squeaked and hid behind the desk, peering over it as the reptile sighed and rubbed at his forehead. "And here I was, starting to think that you'd finally learned something about keeping your mouth shut after what happened with Anathema."

"That was years ago and Anathema Sin is a lot harder to piss off, thank fuck." Ixin retorted, and then he ducked again as Mercy shook her head and Vivien continued to glower at him. "But she, however, is not."

"Would you like me to go invite Celeste up here so we can have another glimpse into your soul, Ixin?" Vivien asked nastily, and the Archmage winced and shook his head violently, ducking lower behind the table. Then the High Queen sighed before looking at Zerrex and nodding, asking moodily: "Anything else to add?"

"Serenity can stay behind and act as my voice in the council." Zerrex said helpfully, and the female winced before glaring at him even as Mercy smiled amusedly at the two, half-hiding her expression behind one hand as Vivien looked thoughtful. Then the lizard glanced at his daughter, saying in a softer voice: "Please?"

Serenity winced at his tone and the look in his eyes... and then she sighed, saying moodily as she crossed her arms: "Fine, I'll stay back and help with the logistical information, then, and deciding on the security setup. Any notes?"

Zerrex shook his head, however, smiling as he patted her gently on the cheek and said quietly: "You'll do fine by yourself, Serenity, you always do. This is part of what you were trained for after all." Then he glanced over at Mercy, adding easily: "And you, don't worry about being hard on her. Serenity's in no position to be a bitch... are you, Serenity?"

He glared at her, and she grumbled moodily but finally nodded, looking at him flatly. The reptile winked at her, however, satisfied that he'd reminded her of her job: she could get a little pushy with his other Disciples sometimes, forgetting that she was the Captain of his official Iuratus, but not the commander of all the others who had dedicated themselves to him as well. It could make council meetings awkward when she attended, arguing loudly with Mercy in particular, trying to push her own points forwards unbendingly: it didn't help that she sometimes forgot to look at Mercy as a High Princess, instead of her little sister.

Finally, however, the Drakkaren realized he was only stalling for time, and he rubbed lightly at his face before nodding to himself and mumbling: "Well... I guess I better go see if the wolves are waiting for me yet and head up to Heaven with them. I'm going to help them find their sister, Jeannine, as well as talk to Lucifer and Lord."

"And here I thought the wolves simply had no blood family." Vivien said dryly, resting her chin on her hand. "What about Vampire? He acts enough like them I could swear they were related, whether their colors are different or not."

"Yeah, but they're both pink if you shave them." Zerrex said blandly, and Vivien sighed and rolled her eyes as Mercy giggled silently and Ixin snorted in amusement. Even Serenity's mouth twitched, and the reptile nudged his Iuratus Captain lightly with his elbow, adding teasingly: "Of course, Serenity's probably thinking of a different part of Vampire that's-"

The female slammed an elbow into his kidney, and Zerrex gritted his teeth as his eyes bulged in pain, hissing a bit through them before Serenity bowed her head respectfully to the High Queen and grabbed her father's arm, dragging him towards the open doors leading out to the southern balcony as the reptile stumbled backwards, half-twiddling his fingers towards Mercy even as she stood up with a wince.

Then the golden-armored Drakkaren half-threw him forwards, and the reptile pinwheeled his arms, stumbling around in a circle and just managing to catch his balance as Mahihko and Lone both winced and reached out to help steady him, Serenity saying flatly: "Next time, I'll aim a lot lower and hit you a lot harder, understood?"

"Yes ma'am, won't happen again ma'am." Zerrex mumbled, and he glared at her over his shoulder as she glared back, before he smiled wryly and winked at her, and Serenity threw up her hands in frustration and stormed back into the Throne Room. Then he carefully straightened, rubbing absently at his side before he looked down at the wolves... and he smiled a little as he saw Lone was wearing much the same outfit as always, just black jeans and his vest, but Mahihko had put on a pretty, shortened black dress that had at one point likely belonged to Sin. A pink ribbon was tied around his tail, and a belt was cinched tight at his waist, keeping the dress form-fitting to his upper body but loose and flowing down to his ankles... and the lizard couldn't help but raise a hand and flick it, creating a single black rose that he gently tucked behind the lupine's ear, making him blush with pleasure. "Are you two ready?"

They both nodded to him, looking up at him softly, and the golden bangles around the slender wolf's arms jingled quietly as Lone put a hand in his pocket: a silver chain dangled from this, hooked into the belt at his own waist, and the reptile smiled a little as he realized what the lupine must be playing nervously with: a pocketwatch, something Zerrex had given him a long time ago... then given anew when Lone had been whining one day about how Mahihko always got flowers and he never got guns or anything like that. "Yeah, Dad, I... I think we are. And to be honest... I think we're both kind of... excited and glad. I mean... even if she tells us to fuck off... we tried, right?"

"At least we'll have tried... and at least we'll have warned her, just in case." Mahihko added softly, and Zerrex nodded a bit. He thought about Ixin's words, how it was likely the murderer would be going after someone closer to him now rather than someone further away... but a shiver ran down his spine nonetheless as he thought of how many times in the past they'd been convinced of something, only for something else awful to happen. How he thought that they'd go to Hez'Ranna and rescue Marina, and they'd ended up being dragged into torture and death and war; about how they'd simply kill all the demons, only to discover that the demons were just being used, were as sentient and had emotions even stronger than mortals; how they'd stop the Old Gods, only to lose the mortal world to Athéos's Mechanauts; how they'd gamble on suicidal tactics against Camus and almost shattered the fabric of the universe.

The two wolves were looking at him nervously now however, so Zerrex forced a smile before he held his hands out, saying softly: "Come on, wolves, time to go, then."

They both nodded to him, each quietly grasping one of the lizard's larger hands, and his fingers enfolded theirs as they clung to his arms before he lowered his head and took a slow breath, concentrating... and a moment later, he vanished from the spot, only to reappear a few moments later on a large concrete platform, a faint breeze sending a roll of dust and a few strands of hay past their ankles as the two wolves winced a little, then breathed twin sighs of relief when they weren't hit with recoil from the jump. Thankfully, Zerrex was getting better at learning to control that... and he smiled a bit as he looked up at the one part of Heaven he actually liked.

Their backs were to a large, rustic-looking barn filled with hay and where crates of apples and other foods were stored, and several enormous, bony-looking trees sat along the wide dirt road cutting through the center of the small village in front of them, the homes here looking much like enlarged log cabins, a few of them resting on heavy brick foundations. There were grassy fields surrounding this rustic place, trees standing haggard guard here and there, but at every horizon, white mountains rose up... except Zerrex knew by now these were no mountains, but instead enormous buildings, temples, and monuments, before he grimaced and glanced up as a shadow rumbled slowly over them, covering the town in darkness for a moment.

An island floated slowly overhead, the bottom layered with huge grey and brown stones and covered in black netting that stopped any large pieces of rubble from escaping, enormous orbs of glowing green crystal covered in runes humming quietly here and there over its underside. Atop this island was a massive city; a city now kept afloat by magic, and magical crystals the size of boulders that the Heavenly Council wouldn't explain the origins of.

Unlike when Hell had become a planet, no unknown worlds had merged together: instead, the immense mostly-city that was Paradise had been layered upon itself, buildings and land crushing down on buildings and land. Thus, in order to try and salvage everything that could be salvaged, the enormous, floating islands had been created that hovered like an ominous, broken outer shell over the surface of Heaven, thousands that were so immense they often eclipsed the sun above... and in some places, floating islands hovered miles in the air above other floating islands, literally above the clouds and the solid land hidden in the banks of fluffy white.

The two wolves let go of the Drakkaren's hands as they looked up and stared as the enormous island rumbled slowly overhead, the air seeming to grow heavier as it levitated steadily past, and the lizard grimaced a little in distaste before he reached down and grasped the shoulders of both lupines; as often happened when neither was focusing on the other, they turned at the same time and cocked their heads with the same expression, and Zerrex repressed a smile as he said mildly: "Come on, let's go. I'll drop you two off near wherever Jeannine lives now, and then I'll go and see the Council. Hopefully Raze has informed Lord and Lucifer that I'm going to be here, or we'll have some very pissy Paladins dropping in to say hello to the little demons and the big bad god."

"We're wolves, not demons." Mahihko said brightly, and Lone groaned and slapped his forehead before the little wolf winked over at the lupine, adding: "But I am a demon in bed!"

"We're Gemini, remember? I... you know what, shut up." Lone said flatly, and Mahihko pouted moodily before the larger wolf smiled awkwardly at Zerrex, saying hesitantly: "I think she lives in Penitence, now... do they have to give such creepy names to all the cities here in Heaven or what?"

"Well, this one's Mariposa, it's not so bad." said an amused voice, and Zerrex glanced to the side before he smiled warmly at the sight of an ivory-furred female feline walking towards them, long hair of the same color cascading around her face and shoulders. She was dressed only in simple blue jeans and a red blouse, a black leather collar that was edged in white cinched tight around her neck and a simple silver bracelet dangling from one wrist.

Her eyes were black, but loving and compassionate as they gazed at him with reverence, and Lone and Mahihko both blushed and shuffled behind the reptile as she walked forwards. The Drakkaren leaned down, embracing the slender five-and-a-half foot tall angel, and then he gently kissed her forehead, then her lips chastely in blessing, before murmuring softly: "It's good to see you, Mary. Still holding on up here?"

"I hate being in Heaven more than I hate being in your Deep Temple, Zerrex." Mary replied blandly, and Zerrex groaned and slapped his forehead before he glanced down as she hugged him firmly again around the waist, saying softly: "Besides, I think this is all just nonsense and lies about angels becoming demons if they stay in Hell too long. And I don't think I'd mind, either."

"And when I was mortal, I didn't think I'd mind becoming a god, and look where we are now, me bitching constantly about it and how much it sucks." Zerrex grabbed her by the head and pried her off, and she laughed quietly and smiled up at him kindly, and the Drakkaren smiled softly back before he reached back behind him, grabbing Lone and Mahihko and yanking them out to either side, the two wolves blushing and meek in her presence: when they had been the mortal Lone Wulfe, they had been the authors of Mary's death. "Say hello, you two."

"Hi Mary." they echoed together, looking at her awkwardly, and Mary looked softly from one to the other before her eyes moved up to Zerrex's... and Zerrex gazed back down at her quietly. Her eyes had used to be brown, after all... but with both Negative's corruption and so much time spent in the dark energies of Hell instead of Heaven's purity, Mary's irises had become obsidian, and her wings had turned from ivory to the same deep color of night... just like Raze's had. It made him wonder if all he did was damage people... and then he winced when Mary poked his solar plexus firmly.

"So, what are you three doing here?" she asked gently, and the reptile smiled amusedly down at her as he rubbed at his chest, knowing what she was really telling him; to stop thinking all those nasty thoughts he often did. Mary, however, was a little more tactful than most of his Disciples and friends and family. And more tactful than me, too. "I assume there's a reason it's just the wolves along for today, and not an entourage, after all."

"We're going to find Jeannine, the sister of the wolves." Zerrex replied after a moment, gently resting a hand on either lupine's shoulder, and they both smiled bashfully as Lone rubbed at the back of his head and Mahihko shuffled his oversized paws. "Someone's been... going after people from my past. The wolves are worried that because I met Jeannine once..."

"I understand, and that explains why you're up here, too." Mary said softly, and then she smiled from one wolf to the other, asking quietly: "Would you like me to come along? Maybe help act as a buffer and... a bit of proof that you have changed from the Lone Wulfe I had met so many years ago?"

The two looked surprised at this, and then Mahihko turned crimson as Lone looked down and swallowed thickly, rubbing slowly at his eyes with one hand for a moment before he mumbled: "That... that would... that would really mean a lot, Mary... I... I think even Jeannine would listen to you if... if you..."

"It's not a problem at all." Mary reached out and gently squeezed Lone's shoulder, and he looked up at her with a warm smile before she half-bent, resting her hands on her knees as she leaned down to be eye-level with Mahihko, who shyly clung to the lizard's hand as he gazed at her quietly. "You two have changed, and earned forgiveness, after all... why don't I take them, though, Zerrex, and you can go and meet Lucifer and Lord? I'm sure you don't want to go to Jeannine's just for an envoy to show up and drag you off to meet the Archangels of Heaven, after all."

The lizard looked at the lupines, but they both nodded and stepped ahead, Mahihko silently taking Mary's hand almost bashfully, but when she smiled to him, he switched happily from the lizard to her, clinging to her hand with both his own as he said quietly: "We'll be okay, Daddy, we will. You go do your stuff, don't let us keep you."

Lone nodded as he stepped awkwardly up beside Mary, turning around and still awkwardly rubbing at his skull before he smiled to Zerrex with his gunmetal grey eyes. "Yeah, you go ahead, Dad. Mary... she's... she'll be a big help, I think." He looked at her thankfully for a few moments, then returned his eyes to the Drakkaren, saying quietly: "Besides, this stuff is important. No point in telling Jeannine to watch out if... you don't find out anything about who's doing these killings."

Zerrex nodded after a moment, and then he smiled to the three before raising a hand and stepping backwards, and the lizard vanished only to reappear a moment later on a wide concrete pad in front of an immense white castle, guards in white armor immediately leveling spears at him... but then relaxing when the Drakkaren rose his hands and said calmly: "I'm here to meet with the Archangels."

"It's Lord Zerrex, it's safe." one of the guards said after a moment, and the reptile looked with surprise as the angel pushed up his dragon-faced silver mask, clicking as it slid up over the white-alloy helm he was wearing, and the golden-furred canine beneath this smiled hesitantly at him. "Archangel Lucifer told us you'd be coming, sir. And may I say that it's an honor."

He slammed his fist against the metallic breast of his white plate, and the other soldiers stomped a foot at the corners of the platform and did the same gesture, the lizard laughing a bit and rubbing at his face awkwardly as he felt a gentle sense of admiration wash over him from the angels. "Well, that's a surprise. Usually I get booed when I'm in Heaven."

"Our interests aren't in politics, but in who can get the job done and help protect the three intertwined worlds we live in, sir." the canine replied with a wider smile, and Zerrex nodded and smiled in return, then he turned his gaze towards the enormous castle, as the angel added: "Lucifer and Lord themselves should be waiting for you already, just have the Trumpeter announce you."

"Thanks. I appreciate it." Zerrex nodded again to the angel, and then he headed down the large, white steps leading down from the high concrete platform, stepping onto a wide, immense stone bridge that stood on supports ending in chunks of floating land and broken, jagged reaches of wood, the reptile's fingers reaching out to trail over the stone railing as he craned his head a bit to gaze down at the sea below.

The water, if that's what it was, gleamed like liquid gold, waves rippling through the surface and splashing gently along half-submerged rock formations and ancient, immense statues that had collapsed into the Sea of the Sun long ago, before Heaven had merged with the physical plane. The largest - and only - ocean in Heaven, it was almost perfectly circular, with a few inlets here and there snaking into the mostly-solid land of paradise: even at night, it shimmered faintly, and it was said that at the very bottom of the ocean, you could find a great crack that gazed in upon the core of radiant purity that powered all of the white planet, and that was what made the sea shimmer so.

Zerrex's eyes roved upwards, to the enormous white castle he was approaching, the walls surrounding it tall and magnificent, the outer sides of the white fortress low and stooped, but designed so that towards the center, the castle grew higher and more magnificent, with a single immense tower at the back and in the exact center that loomed imposingly; its base was rectangular, but halfway up, it became cylindrical, sculpted, concrete ivy surrounding this latter until it reached the top where an immense dome rested, surrounded by a heavy white stone buttress. Heaven's Observatory, which contained God's Eye: a powerful artifact that could gaze anywhere in the entire universe and home in on a location, ignoring anything and everything that got in its way to give a person a perfect view of an object from each and every angle.

The reptile brought his eyes back down from this, shaking his head a bit as he glanced to the side and grimaced a bit at an ominous, enormous statue that floated by, of a Metatron: a voice of god, usually the ones who gave the orders to battalions of angels and acted as middle-ranking commanders. Other statues, of things Zerrex recognized and didn't, hovered quietly around the immense outer walls of the castle as well, and the Drakkaren rubbed at his face absently before he looked up as he passed between the massive, magnificent outer gates of the floating fortress, stepping from the bridge and onto solid land that nonetheless hovered thousands of feet above a golden sea that shone with inner light.

Angels dressed in white robes sat peacefully in a courtyard of beautiful green grasses on benches and the lip of a layered fountain, and a few soldiers slowly patrolled, dressed in the same white armor as those outside and carrying long, spade-headed spears. The reptile glanced curiously down, but kept quiet as he followed a curving stone path towards a pair of immense golden doors guarded by two tall beings wearing golden armor, faces hidden by bird-like masks and angelic wings extended, both of them carrying savage-looking battle axes made of the same material as their gleaming breastplates with crescent-moon shaped blades. "I... Zerrex Narrius, here to see the Archangels."

The angelic warriors each silently grasped a handle and pulled the doors open, and the Drakkaren stepped into a high-ceilinged stone hall, the reptile grimacing a bit as he walked through the wide, rectangular entranceway and slowly made his way down the corridor, a plush red carpet underfoot. Here, the hall branched in two directions, a set of tall stairs in one direction and gently-curving in the other, but the reptile instead looked at the golden doors inset into the corner wall directly in front of him, a priestess in white robes standing with her hands clasped and smiling gently as he bowed to her courteously, then repeated: "Zerrex Narrius, here to see the Archangels."

"I shall announce you." she said softly, then she turned and pushed the doors open, stepping inside and turning around to politely nod and then close them. For a few moments, the Drakkaren waited anxiously... and then the doors opened again and the priestess emerged, her kind eyes gazing at him as she pressed her palms together and bowed aside. "Please go ahead, Lord Zerrex. They have been expecting you."

Zerrex nodded to her, and then he strode past the priestess, and she closed the doors behind him as the reptile entered a wide viewing hall, pillars lining either side of the room all decorated with prayers in ancient, spiraling Enochian script, and a single large silver throne at the head of the room, large braziers on either side of this. The seat was rarely used, however: Lucifer, instead, leaned calmly against a pillar on one side of the room, and Lord smiled benevolently from where he sat on a wooden stool that was far too small for him, his knees almost up at his chest as he waved. "Hello, Zerrex! Long time no see!"

Zerrex smiled awkwardly as he gazed at the jovial Archangel: at least twenty feet tall, body thick with powerful muscle, his features boyish and almost child-like in their handsomeness and the same amber eyes as Raze, just without all the bitterness in their dark, slit-like pupils. His scales were regal violet that lightened to a purple-gray over his chest, the only thing covering this a thick, black-leather bandolier that went across his body in an X and was secured at the center by a golden ring.

Thick black jeans clothed his lower body, tucked neatly into heavy black-alloy greaves over his feet. These clanked against the ground as he leapt up and walked forwards, his long strides allowing him to easily cover the distance of the hall before Zerrex could react, and then his breath wheezed out of him when the Archangel picked him up in a fierce hug, the lizard's eyes bulging and his teeth gritting as he was reminded horribly of an earlier battle with a Strange Beast as Lord asked warmly: "How are you doing, apart from the rain?"

"Lord." Lucifer said dryly, and Lord cleared his throat, gently setting Zerrex down, and the reptile grasped at his ribs with a wince and a mumble as he staggered backwards. The enormous, purple lizard godling winced a bit, but then he quickly backed off as Lucifer shook his head, looking at this angle to be a Dragokkaren... but when he turned towards the reptile, his duality became clear: one side of his body was that of a red-scaled Dragokkaren with a reptilian amber eye like Lord's, and the other was that of a grizzled, grey-furred timberwolf, with a cold, metallic iris.

He was only fourteen feet tall, the Dragokkaren side of his body thicker with muscle than the lankier wolf side... and yet he was the dominant presence in the room despite Lord's size and outgoing personality, his expression cold and collected. Simple but formal black clothes clung to his solid frame, and a half-breastplate covered his upper chest, made of polished silver that sat over his shoulders. A long, dark cape fell along his back, with slits cut into it so his wings could stand free: both angelic, but one was purest white, and the other darkest black.

"I'm sure you know why we called you here, Zerrex. What you don't know is that there were more than two of your acquaintances murdered in Heaven." Lucifer said in his quiet but carrying voice, with no preamble... and the reptile grimaced a bit as he walked forwards, automatically reaching up to play with the mala hanging around his neck. "Recently, there was another death. Mika Hendrickson."

"Oh gods, no..." Zerrex gritted his teeth and looked down, not wanting to admit how much that hurt his heart to hear. Mika... Felicity's 'brother', who had become a Benevolent in Heaven after he'd died, never trying to attain the wings of an angel but all the better a person for it... and then he looked up, sensing the compassion so deeply-hidden in Lucifer's eyes and soul as he asked quietly: "Same... same MO?"

"Yes." Lucifer nodded, not taking his eyes from the Drakkaren's as he continued quietly: "We detected a beacon: your name written in the virgin blood of an angel in Enochian. You are not surprised."

It was more a statement than a question, but the lizard nodded anyway, and then Lord said quietly, his cheerfulness fading: "Murder's uncommon in Heaven. Very uncommon, enough that these three cases are drawing a lot of attention already. Once someone other than Little Arcy makes the connection, then the storm is really going to begin: we're only fortunate that so far, no one else has. I can feel that it hurt to hear about Mika, Zerrex, but... you can't go out hunting for this guy. We don't even know who it is, and if they're even still in Heaven."

"When was the murder?" Zerrex asked quietly, and Lord hesitated, then looked over at Lucifer, and the lizard turned his own gaze to the sterner Archangel as well.

Lucifer looked down for a moment... then he glanced up and said softly: "Five hours ago. We would have sent word, but... Raze had already left to find you by the time word reached our ears."

Zerrex nodded, rubbing at his face slowly, trying to take this in and at the same time, fighting down his emotions. Mika... inoffensive Mika, who yes, had been so furious with him after Felicity had died... but who also had been one of the only friends of the vixen to forgive him for what had happened, even if it was only because he knew that's what Felicity would have wanted. Zerrex had even considered giving him the red lovebird that now fluttered quietly around in the Cloister, that's how close the two had been... and he shook his head before muttering: "Who the hell could be doing this... wait, how often do murders occur up here?"

Lord shrugged, but Lucifer said quietly: "Five hundred and eighty two last year, Heaven-wide. Like I said, it's uncommon. Part of it has to do with the purification in the air: it makes people more docile, more patient, while Hell's corruption influences emotions towards greater extremes. And like Hell, it's simply... harder to die here.

"But it's also because of the fact that the Prophets and Watchers keep an eye on Heaven as much as they keep an eye on the other worlds. Most people don't like it at first, but they grow used to it." Lucifer's voice was calm, his expression was stony... but yet, Zerrex got a sense of disdain and disapproval nonetheless. "The Council is very interested in cataloguing all this information and keeping the great record said to be started by God current."

"Naganis." Zerrex murmured softly, and the word reverberated through the chambers, Lord covering his head with a wince as the faintest of smiles twitched at Lucifer's muzzle. "Sorry, I... forgot the rules."

"Heaven has no jurisdiction over gods from other planes and worlds. Especially gods who have inherited the energy and gained the blessing of Heaven's former master." Lucifer glanced up towards the ceiling for a moment, and then he returned his eyes to Zerrex, saying quietly, as if they had never had the interruption: "Your friends are in jeopardy. I imagine if this killer is able to target victims in Heaven and defeat the usual methods of detection, to savagely rip apart his prey without being seen, and more importantly, to pass unnoticed between Heaven and Hell... your friends in the netherworld must be in true danger."

Zerrex gritted his teeth a bit at this: it was true. Elysium did not exactly have a glamorous crime rate to begin with... and while Heaven's justice system was so ordered and organized and enormous it was able to speedily process and decide the punishment for the largest to smallest offenders in a matter of days, Elysium was still ruled more by monarchy and might than it was by Sabnock's beloved courts. Therefore, while officers were common enough... most people still preferred just to punch the crap out of each other to settle most disputes, and it could often get ugly. Homicide-ugly. "That's part of why I'm meeting with you now. I've already gotten permission from High Queen Vivien to move a large number of these acquaintances - outer circle and inwards - to Acheron. They're discussing right now who exactly I should be allowed to bring... especially as the murderer is more and more targeting people who are closer and closer to me."

"Heaven's stance is very clear on immigration and emigration, Lord Zerrex. There's little I can do about that, officially." Lucifer crossed his arms and shook his head slowly. "And there are few loopholes in place that could be of any help to you in this situation. Heaven has always been shortsighted when it comes to itself: it was never envisioned that its inhabitants would be anything less than 'safe' in its embrace."

Lord nodded, saying apologetically: "You'd have to talk to the Council... which I know, I know, for you, that's like saying you have to go talk to a tank full of piranhas and ask them not to bite you while you go for a little swim." He smiled a little, then glanced over at Lucifer, saying quietly: "What about the peacekeeping forces?"

"The Council already dislikes the fact we allow 'peacekeepers' to go beyond the bounds of Heaven and keep trade and other relations established between other planets and dimensions." Lucifer replied quietly, shaking his head. "They would immediately see through the tactic if we suggested to the peacekeeping organizations that they recruit these specific people. It won't be long now before they figure out the connection of the latest murder string to Lord Zerrex as it is, either, especially since we summoned him here."

"Job has been real goddamn nosy lately." Lord muttered, rubbing at his head, and Zerrex grimaced at the name of the Naganatine who ran Heaven's High Council, before the purple-scaled godling smiled awkwardly. "Not even the Heavenly Council can say no to us putting your friends under protection, though... even though they'll probably also want to start sending out Hunters and Hounds to try and track down whoever's been killing these people."

"Which brings us to the next point. A bastardized version of your energy signature was found on the remains of each body." Lucifer said calmly, as if he was asking Zerrex to pass the butter at dinner, and the reptile gaped stupidly as he felt his head reel with shock. "We are well-aware it is not you who has committed these murders. Your innocence is of no importance and no question to me. But obviously the Council will try and use this against you to make you seem suspicious and to turn others against you. They may even have had something to do with this chain of events."

"Now, hold on Lucifer, I hate them as much as you do but don't start saying stuff like that." Lord said reasonably, looking pointedly over at the Archangel, but he only looked coolly back. "I mean, for one thing, they might hate Zerrex but they hate every god and demon and even mortals, you know that. And two, what reason would they have to frame Zerrex for this? It doesn't make any sense."

"I do not believe it is their intention to frame him. Only to threaten, antagonize, or distract." Lucifer answered, and Lord made a face before he winced a bit as the other Archangel continued seriously: "Zerrex was the second High King, succeeding where I failed. Zerrex killed the False God ruling Heaven, who first empowered the Council. Zerrex discovered the possibility of the worlds merging and tried to warn us, making the council look foolish. Zerrex killed Athéos and helped rebuild the mortal plane, while the Council ordered Heaven to stand by and do nothing, and many have taken note of this. And, the greatest threat and reason of all for them to want him out of the way, Zerrex now has the distinct traces of the Creator inside of him. And as even you know, Lord, despite how naïve you are, the Council does not want God in Heaven."

"But... I mean... well..." Lord winced and hesitated, rubbing at his face slowly as he shuffled from foot-to-foot, and Lucifer shook his head slowly.

"You try and see the good in everyone, Lord. There is little good left in the council, now, apart from the lonely voices like your son." Lucifer said calmly, but there was a firmness to his words that made the godling wince back a bit. "Our job is not to play politics. Our job is to keep Heaven tasked and moving forwards. Paradise is a misconception: Heaven is where pure souls ascend to, to be rewarded for the good they did in life, or to continue to purify themselves. Precious few souls have done enough good in life to warrant eternity in bliss."

Lord nodded after a moment, glancing down awkwardly before he cleared his throat and looked up at Zerrex, saying finally: "I... I still don't think it's the Council, though, and hear me out. I'm not saying they're good people... I... I know by now they're not. But it just doesn't make any sense politically or power-wise. They're like a swarm of hornets buzzing around their nest, as long as you don't go too close they leave you alone. You rarely come to Heaven and you piss them off but you never bother getting close to the hive, or in this case, the honeycomb of power they thrive off of. If anything, they need you alive, because you make a really good scapegoat for all the stupid stuff they pull."

He smiled embarrassedly as he rubbed the back of his head, and Zerrex glanced at Lucifer, who nodded after a moment at this assessment before he said quietly: "But after what occurred with Camus, it's difficult to say what they want. The Naganatine especially are discontent ever since the appearance of the Strange Beasts. It furthers the legend that God may have been a piece of a First God, or at least had something to do with the creation of the universe as we know it. It also strengthens the idea that the Naganatine themselves were not the First Breed, or the most-loved, as some of them like to say."

Zerrex nodded a bit, glancing down and thinking of Sin and Anathema... and then he looked up and asked quietly: "So what's your suggestions on what I do, then?"

"Wait it out. The enemy will make a mistake eventually. People may suffer, but if you pursue him you could be easily ambushed." Lucifer said quietly. "I am not sure what is more disturbing: his vast knowledge of you, his ability to get away with murder undetected even in watch-guarded Heaven, or how he seems to be capable of moving freely back and forth from Heaven and Hell. Heaven records all vortexes that open and close across the planet, and everyone must register each and every time they use a portal to enter or leave Heaven. Those who don't are very quickly singled out and captured for interrogation and imprisonment."

"Nice." Zerrex muttered, then he rubbed slowly at his face. "High level shapeshifter, someone able to 'cover up' their DNA or energy signature, then, so to speak? That would explain being able to replicate my energy signature, leaving a trace of it on the body."

"Bastardized." Lucifer corrected, and Zerrex tilted his head a bit. "It was a bad imitation, like a child's drawing of a masterwork painting."

The lizard wanted to make a joke, but he felt too awkward in the presence of the Archangel to, so instead he remained quiet. Lucifer seemed to realize he wanted to know more, and the Archangel continued in a slower voice: "It requires a knowledge of magic or minimal control of energy, but the process can be studied. It's an adaptation of alchemy and transmutation, done on a spiritual level. Few components would be required, mostly only for the purpose of attaining proper focus."

Zerrex nodded after a moment, saying quietly: "So... what, they mixed up a knockoff of my energy in a vial and dumped it out on the body?"

"Energy is carried in blood, or other organic substances. In this case, they mixed a vial of false blood together and likely poured it on the victim after killing them. It may have even been used in the process of marking the victim, so to speak." Lucifer replied calmly, and Zerrex rubbed at his face with a wince. "I've already sent Hounds out to see if they can detect this signature anywhere else. I doubt we'll find anything, however."

Zerrex nodded after a moment, and then he looked at Lord as the godling smiled and squeezed his shoulder, saying kindly: "You should just try not to worry, okay? We'll keep your friends under close watch and assign Dragoons and Paladins to keep them safe and secure. The way this guy operates, he seems to prefer going after the victims quietly and privately." He stopped, then reached his other hand up, resting them both on Zerrex's shoulders as he said softly: "You have Hell and Acheron to worry about, anyway. And Gods know from what I've heard, you've been spending a lot of time on the mortal world, too."

"Whenever I get a chance. It's home to me, Lord." Zerrex smiled a little, and Lord laughed and smiled back after a moment.

"A long time ago, it was to me too. That's why I'm very glad to see you protecting it." Lord glanced over at Lucifer, who only looked impassively back. "But I guess that about sums it up, unless you have anything you feel you need to get off your chest."

The Drakkaren began to shake his head, and then he halted as he remembered Eratosthenes. "Kind of. I was in the Unworld Manse, doing research-"

"I've always wanted to go there... it must be just damn amazing." Lord interrupted with a smile, then he looked up at the ceiling as he put his hands behind his head, nudging Lucifer firmly and making him glower a bit. "I'm sure even you'd find something to appreciate there, huh? The architecture or something... but it'd be great, because then I could even do short explorations into the Unworld itself, learn about the cycle of energy more and-"

"Continue, Zerrex." Lucifer shot Lord an icy glance, and Lord blushed a bit, making a zipping motion across his muzzle.

Zerrex rolled his eyes at this, waiting a moment to make sure the Archangel was done, and then he said softly: "Anyway, I was attacked by a Strange Beast who called himself Eratosthenes. Said he was a 'Librarian.' I looked up the term from Camus's own books, and it means he was a big-shot back home, at the Center of the Universe. He seems to have the same problem with me the Heavenly Council's latest beef is about, that I've got the essence of Naganis inside me. In fact, he kept calling me that... he seems to think I'm actually Naganis."

Lord again covered his head, grimacing at the vibrations that shook through the air just from the Drakkaren speaking the name, but Lucifer seemed to relax a bit as he looked thoughtfully at the ground, then up at Zerrex, saying slowly: "You think he's commanding their forces. That they are more strategized than we first imagined."

"Yeah, something like that." The Drakkaren nodded back, then he smiled a little bit as Lord carefully uncovered his head . "Either way, he also mentioned working for someone... or with someone, I dunno, I wasn't totally clear on what he meant. I did ask him about the murders, though, but he had no clue, and I'm pretty sure he was being honest about that, at least.

Lucifer nodded and glanced over at Lord. "Another piece to the puzzle; did you discover anything in the ancient archives?"

"Not really." Lord admitted after a moment, rubbing at his face slowly. "God's journals and stuff... I mean, yes, they're really awkward to go through, but I honestly looked really hard and I didn't find... anything at all mentioning much apart from the Naganatine and a few things he apparently came across on his travels, but they didn't sound... remotely like any of the Strange Beasts. If what Zerrex has been telling us is true, and God was once... an even-bigger God, though, then he might not really be able to remember his past-past. Or maybe he just had... another hidey-hole somewhere, you know, for when he used to vanish at times, then reappear and he'd just say 'Sorry, I was in my thinking corner' and stuff."

Zerrex frowned a bit, glancing down and remembering Naganis sitting on the moon... and then the image faded, but it felt important somehow. Then he smiled a bit to the two Archangels, asking mildly: "So is it going to set off any alarms if I teleport out of here for a second?"

"Just don't reappear inside the Castle Grounds." Lucifer replied calmly, and Lord only tilted his head dumbly before the Drakkaren vanished from the spot, and the godling winced as the shorter but more-imposing Archangel only crossed his arms and waited patiently.

Zerrex reappeared a moment later on the surface of the moon that orbited the mortal world, wincing a bit as he felt pulled-at and ice-cold for a moment before a bubble of artificial atmosphere surrounded him, and the reptile let himself drop to his knees, breathing quietly for a moment. Then he cursed and leapt to his feet, staggering backwards as Negative appeared out of nowhere, walking towards him and snarling: "What do you think you're even trying to accomplish anymore?"

"I don't know, but I do know you should get out of my way." Zerrex retorted... and then he cursed in pain when Negative stepped forwards and backhanded him across the face with his bone claw, wincing and staggering backwards, surprised more than hurt as he grabbed at his face. "What the hell!"

"Leave the past alone, leave the past dead!" Negative hissed through his teeth, and Zerrex frowned a bit as he steadied himself, studying the crimson-eyed Inversion, the way his body was trembling slightly, the anger and... was that fear in his eyes? "Can't you be satisfied with the fact that he's dead, that he gave his life and soul for you? Why do you have to keep digging, digging, digging into memories, and things that should be allowed to sleep?"

The Drakkaren looked down, knowing he had all kinds of rationalizations... but the real reason, like it always was, was so much simpler, as he answered quietly: "I'm curious."

And Negative smiled darkly at him, his crimson eyes flashing before he stepped forwards suddenly and rammed his claws into the reptile's chest... and although they left no wound, no mark, the reptile felt them, felt icy coldness spreading through his body as the Drakkaren's eyes bulged in shock and he grabbed uselessly at the bony arm of the Inversion, as he whispered: "More dangerous words were never spoken..."

And a moment later, the reptile felt himself yanked backwards through time and space, visions, galaxies, worlds spinning past him, white lightning and black fire burning in front of his eyes, and then glaring, awful red light... and a moment later, he staggered, clutching weakly at his chest as he looked wildly back and forth, floating above the ground. He was trapped inside memories... and then he looked up in shock, standing in a beautiful throne room with a balcony high above and a glorious golden seat resting at the back of the marbled hall, a voice Zerrex recognized all too well saying quietly: "I'm curious."

It was a cruel voice, pretending to be kind... and the red-scaled Dragokkaren had pasted a smile on his face that was likely meant to be soft, but his terrible crimson eyes were predatory. Yet he was awfully, awfully charismatic, in his white, flowing robes edged in gold, a heretic who had snuck into God's house in the disguise of a saint, a monster who was about to commit a horrendous, unspeakable act that Zerrex wished he could stop.

"Well... I suppose it can't hurt..." A figure in a beautiful silver mask said slowly, his body the shape of Naganatine, dressed in similar robes of his own... and then he nodded after a moment, saying finally: "Yes, yes, of course. Really, they're based off a being I've seen in other parts of the universe, but I wanted to add my own twist to them, redesign them to better incorporate... well, I call it expression of self..."

God - Naganis - absently removed his mask as he spoke, his back turned to the pretend-angel... and then, as if he were nothing but another meaningless victim, Narrius walked up behind him and flicked his wrist, a hidden dagger of terrible green crystal dropping into his hand as he smoothly wrapped one arm around the Naganatine's head to cover his muzzle and stabbed savagely into his back, then twisted, and Naganis gasped silently into Narrius's palm as the Dragokkaren said softly: "I have always found you insufferable and pathetic."

Then he simply stepped backwards, the dagger standing out of Naganis's back as he whimpered and fell to his knees, shocks of energy travelling over his body as blood leaked down the blade... and he groaned in pain, reality vibrating around him as Narrius calmly pulled a small box from his pocket, before the Naganatine clutched at his chest, feeling the tip of the dagger through his robes as he whispered: "Why?"

"Because I want to." Narrius kicked Naganis hard in the side, and the god collapsed with a moan, shivering hard as blood began to leak out of his mouth and eyes, his fingertips weakly dragging along the floor. "Thegragon told me what you were, and it's not difficult to find a weapon imbued with the powers of destruction. Opposite your values, your vows as a god; more than strong enough to keep you incapacitated for the moment."

"You..." Naganis whispered, slowly looking up at him... and then Narrius put a small box down in front of his face, smiling coldly as he pulled it open, and the god's eyes bulged as he shook his head with a weak moan. "No, no... no..."

"Yes. Thegragon also shared the designs for this with me. She said her old master used to use it to cage particularly troublesome gods... but I've already filled enough Unworld energy into this box to ensure your soul will be shredded to pieces while I transport it out of Heaven." Narrius replied in a soft, dangerous voice. "While in Heaven, I know you cannot be killed. But the moment I leave, your soul will become vulnerable. Your soul will not survive the Unworld essence, even if the box splits open."

Then Narrius brought his foot up and stomped down on Naganis's skull, forcing his muzzle forwards so it pressed against the open box, and he groaned in agony as Narrius spoke dark magic in an ancient, terrible language, and energy crackled along Naganis's form as he gasped and choked, blood bubbling out of his body as he spasmed against the ground and arcs of energy shot over him, drawn into the crackling blackness inside the small box... and then the Naganatine's scales lost their color, and he simply collapsed lifelessly to the ground, eyes dead and sightless as Arodnap's Box snapped closed and locked itself.

The Dragokkaren bent down, tearing the dagger free of the corpse and scooping up the box. He tucked this into his pocket as he picked up Naganis's corpse and tossed it over his body like a sack, then he glanced up, his eyes glowing with energy as he concentrated... and a vortex opened, crackling with power.

The monster left Heaven, to step out into not Hell, but the Unworld... and waiting for him was Thegragon, her mask off, and her scarred, ugly features eager as she whispered: "Yes, yes, yes! Give him to me, give me the corpse! And the box!"

"I'm keeping the box, Goddess. Don't argue with me, or I'll kill you as well." Narrius glanced over her contemptibly, and Thegragon winced a bit but nodded after a moment, even as she gritted her teeth. Then she reached out, taking the corpse before Narrius said sharply: "And? What about his powers?"

"Do not rush me: I created you, did I not? A creation so powerful I still rue it to this day, especially since you cost me my life." Thegragon glared at him, but Narrius glared back, and for a moment, his true, animal nature was revealed as he bared his huge teeth. But then he suddenly smiled coldly, and she laughed quietly, reaching out and stroking over his face worshipfully as she whispered: "Yes. In a way, it is fitting. From mistress to servant... you are almost perfect. And now... to complete your power, and give you control of Heaven, so we can one day together burn the entire universe down..."

She gently scooped up some of the blood of Naganis on her fingertips as she whispered a short verse, and, hidden amongst it, a trail of tears... and then she held these out to Narrius, who leaned forwards and licked the crimson fluid from her fingers without hesitating, for a moment seeming in their old roles. And then Narrius staggered backwards, then snarled as burst into black flames, form becoming more animal before he roared as drool dripped from his jaws and his eyes burned like red spotlights... but then slowly grinned, looking at his hands as Thegragon whispered: "Yes... Naganis's powers changed to powers of destruction, giving you control of dark energy... and now, when you reenter Heaven, Heaven will think you are Naganis..."

"And I shall rule in his place." Narrius grinned darkly, insanely... never realizing how vulnerable he was outside of Heaven, never realizing how coating and bathing his body in dark energy would weaken his form, never knowing how one day it would reduce him back to the status of emaciated beast-monster... or that his caging and death would be a result not of his war upon the world, but from scorning a mortal love.

The memories changed... and now Zerrex wasn't looking at Narrius, but instead at the Goddess, her mask on her face and a silvery pole in her hand, Naganis's corpse laid out before her, naked, dead. She smiled coldly at this as she held up the pole, and it transformed into a knife... and the reptile winced, starting to look away, but a moment later Negative was beside him, seizing his hand with the back of a claw, rasping: "You wanted to see. Now see."

And Zerrex watched: he watched as Thegragon drained Naganis's blood, then skinned his corpse, removing his hide and painting his scales with a mix of his own blood and some other compound. He watched as she cut away his flesh with cold precision, and the reptile felt sick to his stomach as he somehow knew she would feast upon it later. Organs were liquefied or drained and put aside, brain was crushed and added to the mix of blood and other ingredients so she could again paint his scales, turning them a darker maroon now as they hardened... but it was his bones she was after.

She polished them almost lovingly, then treated them like exquisite, expensive metal as she took them to an ancient, deep and dark forge. She added silver alloy and gemstones and bones of fallen heroes, she used his hardened, treated hide of scales and his skull... until finally, she had assembled a terrible and yet beautiful set of white, terrible armor, saying softly: "And one day... my chosen warrior will wear this. Not you, Narrius, an easily-used beast... but perhaps there is another I can set my eyes on... another, like the son you hate so violently, yes... he would be perfect. A toy to distract you if he fails... and a servant to my will if he succeeds..."

She laughed, a wicked, evil sound in the darkness as the forge flared up behind her... and then Zerrex was left panting roughly, grasping at his chest as his legs trembled, tears in his eyes as he fought against a flurry of emotions ripping through his body. He looked creakily back and forth, and then Negative's voice whispered inside his mind, even though the Inversion himself was nowhere to be seen over the darkness of the moon's surface: "Are you still curious?"

"You don't scare me, Negative. You won't scare me away. You won't stop me..." he murmured weakly, but as he felt the pain fading and his heart settling in his chest, he looked up and asked quietly: "Are you Naganis?"

There was only silence in response... and the Drakkaren shook his head slowly before he closed his eyes and concentrated, straightening... and then wincing when he sensed a very distinct energy signature some forty feet ahead. He didn't know what was up here, or how well Naganis had hidden it - astronauts, after all, had combed the surface of the moon for centuries now - but he did know there was something... and perhaps, as had happened with so much else when the Center of the Universe had been destroyed, something here that had perhaps been kept in silent waiting for all these years had awakened.

The lizard strode onwards, doing his best to block out images and thoughts of Thegragon... and of his father, Ifret Narrius. The reason Zerrex had been born different... and he laughed shortly at this sentiment and how true it was in more ways than just being blessed with exceptional strength and unnatural powers of regeneration and vitality.

Before his mind could wander too deep, however, the reptile came across a strange, rocky mound, and the lizard tilted his head back and forth as he wandered around this. It was almost like an enormous stalagmite that jutted crudely from the ground, with a wide, fat conical base and a tip some dozen feet or so about the lizard's head, slowly narrowing as it went up... and then the Drakkaren carefully reached forwards and placed a hand against it, and he smiled a bit. "Smooth... like it's been rubbed by something."

He looked down... and was unsurprised to see that there was a half-hidden stone tile beneath this, sprinkled with lunar dust. The reptile carefully brought his other hand up, putting both against the stalagmite and pushing firmly... and the cone of rock rumbled, refusing to give in this direction, but the reptile's force causing it to grind quietly against something beneath it. Zerrex frowned a bit at this, and then he carefully slid around the stone, testing it with his hands... and was unsurprised when he found that pushing at the right angle made it easily slide away, as if it was resting on a track.

It rumbled forwards when the reptile gave it a firm shove, grumbling against the ground and revealing a distinct, hidden passage surrounded by rocky tile, a steep set of stairs leading down to a pair of red and gold doors. Zerrex smiled a bit at this, carefully descending as he looked nervously at the stalagmite, but it simply sat silent sentinel overtop the doorway... and the Drakkaren shook his head slowly before he pushed the double doors open and carefully ducked through them, entering into a narrow stone corridor.

Dust motes floated through the air, and Zerrex paused to look through the few small doorways along the short hallway into rooms that whispered of abandonment and loss: an unused, unmade bed here, a tiny reading room there. Then the Drakkaren glanced up as he reached the doorway at the end of the hall, this one covered in carvings of ivy, and he felt that tremble of energy again before he reached slowly, hesitantly outwards, grasping into the handle.

He clutched it for a moment, feeling fear weave through his body for some reason... and then he gritted his teeth and forced himself to shove the door open, before wincing at the sight beyond. The room had once been a small library, perhaps, but the shelves of books were covered with cobwebs now, and sparkling, ugly cables, several of these broken and leaking a terrible, coagulated substance. Large and small bugs skittered away at the reptile's approach, and broken skeletons and shattered links of chain lay over the damaged, cracked floor... and at the very back of the room, a bookshelf had been ripped out of place, and instead, standing silently by itself, was the armor Zerrex had seen in his vision.

The boots possessed huge, Naganatine claws that had been sharpened and fortified, edged in white like blades, and metal fed into a ribbed, bone-like structure that went up from the ankle up to the shin. Heavy ivory plates covered each lower leg, leaving only the backs vulnerable, but these were covered by the dark leather made from Naganis's scales. Shield-like cups fit over the knees, and from around the waist hung several larger, leaf-shaped plates of bone to protect hips and groin, locked tight in place by a belt of segmented vertebrae.

Even the tail was protected: running along the top of the appendage was the skeleton of Naganis's own tail, countless small segmented bones, and breaching from either side of these many links were thin, crescent-shaped pieces of ivory that could be steel, could be forged skeleton. They locked into place over and around more of the scale-leather that completely cupped the tail, ending in a single sharp needle... and the reptile shuddered a bit at how thorough the Goddess Thegragon had been in the desecration and the reconstruction of Naganis's very body. She must have truly hated him... and envied him...

The chest was covered by scale-leather that was snug to whatever was beneath it, sculpted into the perfect shape of chiseled muscle despite the fact Naganis had been lithe: but Thegragon would want the armor to be imposing, terrifying, and to emanate a physical power Naganis had never needed. Thick plates of white bone covered the breast and protected the obliques, and the pauldrons that protected the shoulders had been shaped out of Naganatine skulls... and Zerrex shuddered to wonder if they were real or not. There had only ever existed twenty Naganatine, after all... and yet he wouldn't put it past the Goddess to harvest or kill them solely so she could make this exquisite armor that would never be used.

The biceps were covered only by scale-leather... and the forearms were protected by heavy vambraces, heavy white plates on the outside of either arm. Zerrex couldn't help but walk forwards as he stared at the hands, however: the gauntlets were articulated and detailed to the very last bone, made of countless tiny white plates that all linked together to seem like solid, flexible ivory, ending in small, simple claws... and he reached slowly forwards...

The armor shuddered and rasped, and Zerrex leapt back, cursing in shock as he looked up at it. Above the white, ivory plated-collar around the creature's throat, the head bobbed... and the Drakkaren realized the black scales here weren't leather, but the only parts of the armor that weren't covered by it, as two red eyes opened beneath the skull of Naganis that had been forged into a terrifying mask, his horns standing tall and proud still out of the ivory skull that glimmered as if it had been reinforced by more than prayers, more than magic, with several large, sliding, rounded plates that curled down around the back of the creature's head.

It hissed at him, and dust blew out of the nostrils in the skull as it shuddered, and then Zerrex winced a bit as more sand blew up from the skeletal armor as it straightened slowly and a cape unfurled behind it, rolling down a back covered by tight white plates and with oversized, exaggerated vertebrae that was perpendicular to the wearer's spine. Zerrex didn't know how he knew this, only that he knew, as its cape fluttered... and then the creature wearing the armor coughed miserably again, even as the cape of scale leather suddenly snapped around the creature, covering its arms and body like a long, armless coat now, seeming to transform of its own volition. "Who stands before me?"

The reptile was silent as he regarded the creature, and it gazed coldly at him, red eyes almost glowing out of the sockets of its skull before it barked: "Well? Who are..." It broke off, and fell into another fit of savage, painful coughing.

It was malevolent... yet the lizard also had the sense that it had been here for too many years now, sealed away gods knew how many thousands of years ago... and forced to wait all that time in the physical plane, no matter what kind of supernatural being it was, could not have done pretty things to the beast. "I... I am Zerrex Narrius. Who addresses me?"

"I am... guardian, I am... soldier. I do not know my name... I only know my rank. I am servant to the Princess, the Goddess, a disciple brought back from eternal death to protect her secrets..." the beast whispered, and then it coughed hard again before shaking its head slowly. "Zerrex Narrius... your name... familiar..."

The reptile looked at this abomination quietly, and he suddenly understood why it felt so strange. Why there was so much energy coming off the armor, and yet it was being muffled by something... and he said quietly: "She dredged you up from the Unworld, didn't she?"

Thegragon's reality control had allowed her to do awful things... from creating a false High Prince she had been able to puppet, its body securely hidden in the armor of Az'Iriel, the Warlord, to the fabled 'Guard Dogs' of Acheron, horrible monstrosities like the statue-monster Camus had acquired as one of his Theologians to deal with 'nastier tasks.' She had been intimate with the secrets of the Unworld, the reason perhaps that even Athéos himself had valued her so highly and held her so close... but despite knowing the secrets of life and death, she had been arrogant enough to assume she would live forever. "Un... world..."

Zerrex realized he had a choice here, as the monster coughed and rasped again; he could engage this miserable creature and risk damaging the armor in the process - and it felt horribly, horribly wrong to use his powers to rip apart this creature, and even more wrong to damage this armor made from the remains of Naganis - or he could try and talk the beast out of it. The reptile grimaced a bit at the latter choice, but as he looked at the red-eyed thing and it stared back at him, he thought he knew how to persuade it out of the armor. "Why do you wear this?"

"The Goddess... entrusted it to me." the creature whispered, and then it frowned and looked down, shaking its head slowly before it coughed several times again. "She said it would protect... protect... me... it does not, and the air... burns me... but until her messenger comes to retrieve it I cannot part with it."

Zerrex nodded, and the creature looked at him for a moment, asking slowly: "Zerrex... Narrius. Your name is... Zerrex Narrius?"

"Yes." the reptile said quietly, and he met the thing's red eyes for a few moments before he spread his arms a bit. "Were you expecting me?"

"No. I expected another. The Warlord..." it murmured, then shuddered violently, and Zerrex had the sense it wasn't talking about Az'Iriel... but another creature that went by the title of 'Warlord.' "The red... red... r-red...."

It collapsed to a kneel, cape fluttering around it as it began to cough and gag miserably, and Zerrex winced a bit backwards before the creature looked up at him tiredly, murmuring: "Are you... are you here take the armor?"

"Yes." Zerrex said softly, and he knelt in front of the creature... and it smiled faintly at him before the reptile's eyes widened in shock as the red lights in its sockets began to gutter and smoke boiled up out of the armor's hidden seams.

"Good." it whispered, then the armor simply collapsed with quiet clanks to the ground as there was a final sigh, steaming faintly as the last of the black smoke blew away. The Drakkaren looked down at this with a grimace, shaking his head slowly... and then he sighed a bit as he carefully sketched the sign of the Judgment Cross in the air and murmured an old Hez'Rannan prayer, figuring it would be fitting. Sleep now, poor servant. You're free of your Mistress.

The reptile reached carefully towards the armor... and then he winced as it pulsed faintly before energy crackled through the room, and the cobwebs burst into blue flame as the broken debris along the floor and the vermin crawling along the walls exploded. The Drakkaren leapt to his feet, looking back and forth in shock as a resonance pulsed through the room, growing louder as Zerrex cursed and covered his head, the blue fire spreading through the room, licking at the Drakkaren's ankles, feeling strong and yet warm as he clenched his eyes shut...

And a moment later, he hesitantly opened them as he stood in silence, before staring back and forth stupidly at the small library. It had been completely restored, books sitting in the shelves as if they had never been damaged, not a speck of dust - much less blood or skeletal parts or anything else - anywhere in sight, the armor gone... but when the lizard glanced slowly to the side, he saw it had simply changed positions, resting in an ornate wooden rack now, the skull-helm hugged gently against its own plated chest by its own arms. In this pose and environment, it was less intimidating, less evil... and as the reptile reached forwards, he carefully touched it, noting the small spikes that stood up in double-rows over many of the large sections of plate as he murmured: "Naganis..."

The armor glowed faintly in response... and the reptile laughed a bit as he grasped the shoulders, then winced as he reached he was touching Naganatine skulls, bringing his hands back as he felt distinct energies burning against his palms. Different enough from the rest of the armor to let him know they were, in fact, real... and the reptile thought he almost recognized one of them, as he muttered: "Goddamn the Goddess..."

Then he looked at the armor again, before hesitantly reaching out to touch its chest... and then the lizard winced and staggered forwards as Negative snapped from behind him: "Well, now what?"

"Holy hell!" Zerrex glared over his shoulder at the creature, one of the skull's horns poking lightly into his stomach, and then he turned around and looked disgustedly at the Inversion as he glowered back and forth. Then the lizard frowned instead, tilting his head before glancing over his shoulder at the armor, and he said dryly: "Well. You know, you look really similar."

"Shut up." Negative said darkly, his red eyes burning... but he seemed to be hesitant to approach the armor stand at all, as Zerrex smiled wryly and reached up to absently play with his mala. "So will you destroy it?"

"You sound eager for me to." the Drakkaren said mildly, and Negative looked less-than-amused at the lizard's tone. "And you know, that just makes me want to not destroy it all the more."

"It's corrupted creation. It's evil, it's wrong, it goes against every system of belief you have. It should be destroyed." Negative retorted, and now Zerrex looked at him curiously, even as Negative snarled in return. "What?"

"You, the same person who's been corrupting my Disciples, is whining about this being evil and nasty?" Zerrex said mildly, and Negative looked furious before he started forwards, but Zerrex only grinned widely as he reached back, pulling the skull helm out of the armor's arms and tossing it lightly towards the Inversion. "Catch!"

Negative winced even as his hands automatically went out, and Zerrex was surprised when he actually caught it... then the Inversion stared in horror down at the skull in his hands before shocks of energy ripped through his body, the creature's back arching as it howled in misery and Zerrex's eyes went wide with surprise, wincing himself as he felt the creature's pain in muted bolts through his own form before Negative simply sparked out of reality... and Zerrex winced and lashed a hand out as the skull helm fell, and it floated eerily above the ground instead of hitting, the lizard wheezing in relief before he gently beckoned it, and it floated quietly over to him, turning around slowly as Zerrex gently caught the helm.

At first, he was confused... but as he held the skull, he silently let himself lean backwards against the bone armor, resting in its half-open arms... and he smiled faintly after a few moments before he hugged the helm against his chest. Once he got past the exterior and the corruption it had been bathed with... he realized that it gave off the same pulse of energy, the same murmur of life, as his prayer beads did, but on a much-more-massive scale. Yes, the Goddess had warped the physical exterior of Naganis, transforming his remains into a terrible-looking bone armor... but try as she might, she had not been able to corrupt his spirit. She had not been able to transform his energies in the slightest... and he felt his mind becoming peaceful, clear, calm as he smiled a little, gazing up at the ceiling and feeling almost... almost uplifted, as tears again threatened his eyes and he whispered: "That's why Negative was scared... why he wants it destroyed. For all the powerful, unnatural wrongness that was inflicted on you, Naganis, despite the desecration, the destruction, the warping... you cannot simply erase the spirit of something. The faith of something. You can murder all the priests in a temple, you can rape and pillage and burn it, you can splatter the walls with blood and your idols... but if true faith exists there, no matter what you do to its appearance, no matter how you mar its outer shell... beauty will exist inside of it. True meaning can't be stolen, not by destruction, not by death, not by corruption..."

He looked down at the skull in his hands, and blue energy sparked over it. Zerrex still hesitated... but the armor was speaking to him. The armor was comforting him, as if some piece of Naganis lived on inside of it... and more importantly, whatever it looked like, however scary it seemed... the armor was what was left of Naganis. He would cherish it... and he also knew that he could not simply let this be destroyed. Naganis was already dead: destroying this armor, even made by evil hands as it was, would not bring Naganis back, would not give him any more peace. The very fact Negative wanted it gone so badly, wanted this to remain a secret, spoke worlds about it, Zerrex thought, even before he'd seen how the Inversion couldn't bear to touch it, even though he existed outside of reality, was unaffected by sword or shield or spell or machination otherwise...

But the reptile knew he'd lingered enough, turning around and quietly placing the helm back on the rack, and he smiled a little at the armor as he said awkwardly: "Just... give me a minute. I came here for a reason... and I mean, you went through all the trouble of restoring this library for me, it looks like..."

Zerrex stopped, looking at the armor, then touching his own chest as he closed his eyes, whispering: "Are you in there, Naganis? Inside me, or... inside Negative? I just... wanted to say thank you, again. Not because you're God... because you... you did so much for me. Not just the world, but you... keep reaching out to me, through the bounds of time and space and death and destruction, and I don't know how or why, but... thank you. You know I'm no zealot, though... I ain't gonna start ordering others to praise your damn name no matter how many miracles you perform for me, so let's... just get that clear, too, huh?"

He smiled a bit, and energy sparked over the armor, as if it appreciated his sense of twisted humor... and Zerrex shook his head slowly before he headed towards the bookshelves. He was unsurprised to find that like Camus, Naganis had logbooks, all of them neatly-ordered and labeled... and the reptile let his instincts guide him, smiling a bit as he reached up to pick one and-

Zerrex felt a horrendous agony rip through his skull, his muzzle thudding into the shelf and his hands clawing at the books, knocking several loose as he gargled... and his eyes bulged, then he screamed as he realized Negative had torn his claws into the back of his skull, the Inversion leaning forwards and whispering: "We need to have a little talk."

The reptile screamed again as dark energy shot over his body, gritting his teeth in pain as blood leaked from his eyes... and a moment later, the pain was gone, and the lizard was standing numbly in red sands, crumbling towers in the distance but the area around him otherwise deserted. He fell immediately to his knees, clutching at his face... and then a hand seized into his hair, yanking him to his feet before tossing him backwards, the lizard grunting as he landed painfully on a rock and skidded a foot or so through the crimson sands on his spine.

Negative looked down at him coldly, his red eyes burning with anger as he simply stood and glared, and Zerrex gritted his teeth before he began to stand up... and then his eyes widened when the Inversion stepped forwards and slammed his fist into his muzzle, knocking him crashing and rolling backwards through the sand, a spray of fine red dust following him before the reptile flopped onto his stomach and coughed hard. Everything felt so real, including the pain... and he snarled as he began to get up, then stared in horror when he saw Negative was only a foot or so away, the creature's claws lashing downwards-

Zerrex brought up his right arm, wincing as the bone claws ripped through the scales and gouged the material below, but failed to leave any severe wounds, Negative snarling before the Drakkaren threw himself backwards when the creature gestured violently upwards with his left hand. Dark blades ripped out of the ground in the space Zerrex had occupied seconds before, and then the spikes of dark energy tore themselves upwards, hovering eerily for a moment as they aimed themselves at the lizard, but Zerrex only winced and created a barrier of blue energy in front of himself, the dark spikes firing rapidly into this but only managing to crack the blue wall even as they went up in tremendous, focused explosions.

The lizard let the shield of energy vanish as he and Negative glared at each other, and then the reptile said quietly: "So it's finally come to this, has it?"

"I've stood by one too many times, Zerrex, while you have abused my kindness and my abilities. It's time for you to recognize who is in charge here... and that when you don't play by the rules I make, things go wrong." Negative said coldly, and then he snapped his fingers... and Zerrex's eyes widened as the stars in the darkness above their heads rearranged themselves, faint lines of light shooting between them here and there to form into an image of the Drakkaren standing mindlessly before the constellation extended a hand... and a deadly dagger appeared in it, the stars making this up glowing a malevolent purple. "Can you split your concentration between stopping me from ramming this into your eye and killing you physically, while fighting me here to stop me from killing you mentally? Either way, I take over your body. Beg for your life, Zerrex. Beg for your life and I may let you exist as a tiny part of my consciousness."

"You know the risks if you make me kill myself. I might not Invert again. I might just die." Zerrex said coldly, but Negative only smiled ruthlessly at him.

"Then I'll use your dwindling energies to jump to a new host. Cherry could be fun. Or perhaps Marina... or one of the other sluts you care about so much. I'll turn them into everything you hate... and warp the rest of your precious family inside-out." Negative said softly, and Zerrex snarled, the creature grinning cruelly: "What, are you angry?"

Zerrex vanished from the spot, and Negative looked stupefied for a moment before the lizard reappeared directly in front of him, his right arm silver and glowing with blue energy before he slammed it savagely into the creature's face, and Negative flew bonelessly backwards, crashing and his body awkwardly flopping as his arms stayed almost locked against his sides before he slammed face-first against the ground. He lay still for a moment... then snarled in fury as he rapidly pushed himself to his feet, his bone mask covered in thick cracks as he hissed: "I'll rip you apart!"

The Drakkaren's anger had been vented in the punch: now, instead of letting that take over again, he felt a cold calmness descend as his eyes flicked upwards, realizing that the busier he kept Negative here, the slower the constellation moved. Immediately, the reptile sprinted forwards, even as the Inversion snarled and swung both arms out, black swords of energy appearing in mid spin around him before they shot towards the lizard.

Zerrex winced and zigzagged back and forth, the swords hitting the ground next to him or flying past, sending up enormous explosions that kicked red dust up in a haze before he simply swung his fist forwards into the last dark energy sword, covering his face with his other arm and roaring as he charged straight through the resulting blast, even as his scales were singed and chunks of steel flew off his arm. Negative, however, cursed at the lizard's direct approach, flicking his bony arm outwards as a long, deadly needle shot from his wrist before he lunged forwards with a feral growl, but Zerrex skidded to a halt and then half-spun his body, elegantly swinging one leg into a reverse thrust kick that smashed into Negative's stomach and made him lurch backwards.

He clawed feebly at the air as Zerrex seized his metallic hand by the fist and then backstepped towards the creature, half-spinning as he lashed his elbow outwards, and it smashed directly into the very end of Negative's muzzle, chunks of bone mask flying in all directions as his maw snapped loudly under the force of the blow, the Inversion howling in pain and fury as he clutched at his nose as it erupted with black blood, leaning forwards... and the Drakkaren grinned insanely as he created a sphere of blue energy that pulsed violently in his metallic hand even as he slammed a knee up into Negative's chin, knocking him staggering backwards, his hands still holding his wounded muzzle as his chest was exposed, his eyes widening... and Zerrex simply flung the sphere of energy as hard as he could into the creature's chest, the sphere striking and expanding in the blink of an eye to explode in a blue tinged blast that made the lizard wince and stagger.

Negative flew backwards, striking against the sand and rolling several feet before he lay stunned, even as his body regenerated the damage... and Zerrex winced as he looked up at the constellation, seeing that the dagger was looming dangerously close to his face in the stars. Immediately, then lizard reached both hands up, concentrating and focusing on it... and then, feeling like he was pulling a tanker ashore by chains alone, he slowly yanked his hands downwards, and the constellation shuddered violently before the dagger retracted all the way to waist level.

Zerrex grinned... then screamed in agony when Negative appeared in front of him and sank his claws into his stomach before he ripped savagely to the side, almost disemboweling the reptile as he fell heavily to his side before the Inversion slammed a foot into his wounded stomach, blood exploding from the deep rips as well as his muzzle as he was knocked rolling backwards. He screamed in pain and at the feeling of sand in the wounds even as they began to heal, laying on his back before his eyes bulged when Negative stabbed the long, bony needle standing out from his wrist down towards his eye... but the lizard managed to catch this in his metallic hand, gritting his teeth before he slammed his other hand against the ground, and Negative was blasted into the air as sand beneath him erupted into a massive pillar.

The creature twisted his body with animal grace, however, landing on all fours with a snarl some ten feet away even as Zerrex staggered to his feet... then he winced as Negative charged forwards again, the needle blazing with dark energy before the lizard snarled and swung hard at him with his right arm, trying only to ward him off. Negative, however, simply blocked the metallic limb with his own ivory one, the two staggering backwards after their swings connected before the lizard cursed and swung his fist forwards into a lunging punch, but the Inversion smacked this almost irritably away before he lashed his claws against Zerrex's face, digging thick rips through the scales of his features and knocking him sideways before he stabbed savagely at his neck.

Zerrex managed tilt his head backwards and throw himself away, however, at the same time swinging his left hand out... but it only collided with Negative's bony arm, and the Inversion grinned as Zerrex cursed in pain, his fingers throbbing at how solid the material was before his eyes widened when dark lightning sparked down the limb and Negative shoved his hand towards him, blasting the reptile backwards with a cone of black flames. He howled in pain as his scales were singed and burnt, stumbling before the creature pounced towards him, but this time the reptile managed to bring a leg up and kick him hard in the chest, knocking Negative to his knees as the reptile grabbed at his body, panting hard. The Inversion was only trying to stall him now, it felt like... and the reptile cursed under his breath before he snarled and glanced up towards the constellation, watching as the dagger ticked slowly, grimly upwards.

Then Negative lunged again, stabbing the needle fiercely forwards, and the only thing the reptile could think of to do was to swing his own left palm out, meeting the blow. He screamed in agony as he felt the needle rip through this, burying into his forearm as dark energy sparked along Negative's body and he roared in triumph, eyes blazing... and then his grin faltered as Zerrex's fingers clenched into his bony fist as he reached his metallic hand up to squeeze into his other shoulder, the creature rasping: "What?"

"You're inside me, Negative... your corruption doesn't do anything to me..." Zerrex gritted his teeth as he forced himself to concentrate, and blue energy shocked down his left limb, the glow building as Negative screamed and tried to pull away, his eyes widening in horror beneath the bone mask as the lizard rasped: "But my energy, on the other hand, can hurt you plenty!"

Blue energy sparked around their bodies as Negative desperately tried to yank himself free, but with the needle of bone buried all the way into the lizard's forearm and the death-grip the Drakkaren had on the Inversion, he was unable to tear away, shaking his head in wild denial as a blue glow steadily built higher and higher beneath the bone plates of Negative's ivory arm... and then both howled in fury and pain and misery as Negative's bony arm simply exploded into chunks of white matter and black blood, the Inversion finally ripping free and staggering mindlessly backwards as he clutched at his missing limb, and Zerrex was blown off his feet, his left arm a mangled, ruined mess, most of his hand gone and his limb covered in visible splotches of rot as pain seared through the entire limb... and for once, he was thankful that it felt like most of the nerves had been burnt out, even as he snarled in agony and his flesh and blood arm hung loosely and brokenly at his side.

"So... so what... you've only disabled an arm on both of us!" Negative shouted furiously, still visibly unable to comprehend what had happened as he clutched at his shoulder, blood leaking from his eye sockets as he screamed: "Do you think you've really given yourself any kind of advantage? Your arm is useless now as well!"

"But my other arm can do this." Zerrex gritted his teeth in a grim grin as he held up his right limb, and the metallic plates rippled before a three-foot long, elegant blade tore out of the wrist, and Negative's red eyes widened in horror as he looked down at his flesh and blood arm stupidly.

Then Zerrex lunged to his feet, left arm clutched to his side but right arm raised in front of himself, and Negative lunged desperately backwards before he shoved a hand towards the ground, a wall of dark spikes erupting from the earth in a wave towards the lizard... but the Drakkaren leapt into the air as a platform of blue energy appeared overtop the valley of spikes, landing on this and charging down it as it expanded in front of him and vanished into blue sparks behind him, and Negative began to raise his arm too little, too late-

Zerrex pounced, slamming his feet into Negative's chest and crashing down on top of him in a kneel, forcing him to the ground before he slammed his blade through the Inversion's eye, and Negative screamed in agony before the lizard ripped the sword free, brain matter and blood spurting from the terrible wound before the Drakkaren slammed his metallic elbow down into Negative's skull-mask, cracking it. Negative bucked and shook beneath him, but even as Zerrex was almost dislodged, he lashed his metallic arm outwards in a savage, wild swing that tore off one of Negative's horns completely before dark energy exploded in the air above the Inversion and sent the reptile crashing backwards onto the red sand behind him.

They both lay on their backs, panting hard, the constellation above frozen... and then Zerrex forced himself to sit up and climb to his feet, and Negative's eyes burned with hatred and fury as he trembled on the desert... but then only managed to roll over, clawing at the sand and whispering: "I don't understand why... why you won't... die, why you won't succumb to my corruption, why... you're so strong here in your mind when it is a place you fear..."

The reptile breathed hard... and then he looked up at the constellation above, and simply reached a hand up, flicking his wrist... and the stars immediately tore apart, the terrible, purple lights in the sky vanishing before he looked down at Negative as the Inversion clutched at his lost limb. Then the lizard smiled dryly, saying quietly: "Because I've never forgotten..."

"That failure is simply self-defeat." said a soft voice, and Zerrex smiled faintly over at a tall, powerful Dragokkaren dressed in a casual suit and with a trophy belt from a fighting championship around his waist, his features calm and serious, his blue eyes burning with intelligence and wisdom. "We are not defeated by others. We are defeated by ourselves. We give up; that is failure."

"Memories..." Negative grabbed at his cracked skull-mask, and Zerrex returned his eyes to the creature as the vision of his uncle, Requiem Narrius, faded slowly from sight. "Useless. You cling to them... and they do nothing for you."

"They do everything for me, Negative. Maybe the reason you're such a goddamn cunt all the time is because you don't remember what it's like to be nice." Zerrex squatted beside the creature, and then he glanced absently down at his left hand as he realized both his pain and his wounds had vanished. "The truth of the matter is, though, that whether you like me or not, and whether I like you or not, we seem to be stuck with each other. I have a feeling that I can't kill you here... I also have a feeling that you trying to kill me is a desperate bid for something you know that isn't going to quite work."

"You have Archangels to return to." Negative said shortly, and the reptile frowned before a moment later, reality returned... and the reptile found himself standing dumbly in the library once more, a few fallen books by his feet, his legs trembling a little... and then he shook his head and rubbed at his face... then grimaced as he found blood on his fingers as a dull throb sounded somewhere deep in his brain. Negative...

But the Drakkaren could barely feel the presence of the Inversion now: when Negative did return, sooner or later, he'd probably be pissed as hell... but the lizard had a feeling that wouldn't be for a while, either. They often tussled and contested each other, but Negative had never before tried to actually kill him... and Zerrex grimaced a bit as he looked back and forth, but when he didn't see a knife anywhere, he hoped that the Inversion had only been making threats again to distract him while he tried to go after the Drakkaren in his own mind. "Goddammit..."

Zerrex sighed a bit, then he leaned down, picking up the fallen logbooks and hesitantly attempting to put them back in order on the shelves... before a certain book caught his interest, marked not like the others but instead with a large, strange symbol on the front: a circle, with a multitude of different prisms inside of it. The reptile looked at this curiously for a few long moments, feeling like it was important... and so he opened the book, and was unsurprised to watch as the runes along the page silently reshaped themselves into letters and words in the language he understood best, the Irenic common dialect.

The wording was clunky, however: endings were wrong here and there, syntax and grammar errors, a few misspelled words. It was like someone had struggled arduously to replicate the technique used by the First Gods to make the 'infinite legibility,' as Camus had called it in one journal: the way all the books in the Unworld Manse were able to shape the words upon the page so that even someone who had a weak grasp of their own written language could read them:

Memories are filtered in. They are not all good ones: I pondering over it, and have come to conclusion that they are from a past life, awakened by something. I know that I have an urge to create: and yet the other gods I have met tell me they have never seen powers like mine commonly. I have even been learning to replicate other techniques used by other gods: one of particular interesting is the ability to make a book legible and readable to anyone. I am attempting to enchant my journals with these. Should something ever happen to me... I want people to know why I did what I did. I want people to have the knowledge that god is not alien, is not violent, is not wrathful. That I do not demand sacrifice, or tribute: I only wish that I did not have to distance myself from my own creations to let them evolve. I wish that I could walk among them... that I could be their friend.

I have a terrible, terrible feeling, which is why I am recording this. This is writing of all my memories, my dreams, my concerns. From my fears of how I failed the Naganatine, to the sensation of impending peril. I have too many years in life to tell of every important event, but I have listed the most crucial. Awakening; Athéos and the Old Gods; Thegragon and Acheron; seeding the planets; the Birth of the Naganatine; the Betrayal, and my cowardice; Lucifer and Hell; the Flaw of Corruption; Lucifer's Return to Heaven; the Second Archangel; the Decline; my Penance. And lastly, of my Dreams... Dreams of strange, strange things, and strange, strange life that I may once lived.

Every day I spend in personal hell for what I've done. I have failed so many times, so very many times... instead of imprisoning the Betrayers in limbo, I should have only locked away Mephistopheles, then worked harder to save my children instead of leaving them to his corruption and torments. I weeping at the sight of what he did to my daughters. I should have worked harder on the essence of Hell's corruption, made it more akin to Heaven's purity: I am to blame for making demons more sinful, more cruel, more enslaved to their emotions. It is my fault, and alone mine, that they become slaves to themselves, that they grim souls rioted and writhed. I continue to lock myself away rather than look at the worlds I've created, I continue to shut out the prayers because a million voices ask me every day for miracles: I am asked to provide toys and lovers, to bring back the dead, to stop disasters, to kill and to save. I am spoken to by faithful of all religions, by agnostics, and by atheists who revile my very existence and yet nonetheless whisper to me in secret.

And I cannot save them all. Even if I tried, I cannot answer their prayers. It is not that I have turned my back on them, that I do not feel terrible empathy for them. If I save one, though, then I make another's life worse. If one prayer is answered, a dozen others clamor for it. Once I tried to make my presence known to a simple but kind male. He told others about his vision and wrote my words down: then he grew to be revered by some as prophet, and jealous and hateful by others. My name was yelled in scorn and in rage as well as in pleading prayer. I covered my eyes for a moment to try and block it out. When I looked again down to the world, they had murdered the 'prophet' and burned the words he had written for me and called him 'heretic.' He hurt no one. But I hurt him. I cost him his life.

Zerrex looked down quietly, closing the book and shaking his head slowly before he looked over at the armor with a faint smile, saying quietly: "You had no idea what would happen, Naganis... now that I'm suffering from this... godliness too... I know how hard it is. How... how awful it is."

The Drakkaren glanced down, rubbing at his face slowly: he heard learned to block them out for the most part, but there were times still when people's prayers slipped through to him... and while some were in honest need of help, others felt like they were entitled, had every right to being granted gifts from god... and others prayed for terrible, awful things. Victims, murders, suffering... and Zerrex closed his eyes before he opened them, quietly carrying the book over to the armor as he said softly: "I don't know what I'm going to do with you. But Lucifer and Lord are probably still waiting for me... and hopefully this book will help them a little."

The reptile wanted to sit down and read more... but he felt that the Archangels had more entitlement to the journal than he did: after all, to this day he had no idea why Naganis had saved him, of all people. He doubted more and more it was simply because he and Athéos had blown each other into oblivion... and the reptile shook his head as energy sparked over the armor before he gently lifted it free from the rack to cradle in his arms. It was heavy, and yet... comfortable, the lizard carefully adjusting the skull helm and book so they rested on the armor's bone-plate chest, and he looked down at it for a few soft moments. He could feel the pulse of purity in it so clearly despite the look of it... and he only wished that he could be bringing home Naganis himself.

Then he shook his head slowly before he concentrated, and a moment later, the reptile vanished from the spot, only to reappear on a concrete platform in Heaven in front of the enormous castle. The guards looked at him with surprise, and Zerrex smiled at the white armored knights awkwardly before he said lamely: "Just... have to make a delivery."

They didn't reply, only staring as Zerrex carried the heavy suit of armor down the steps and towards the gates, knowing it looked awkwardly like he was carrying a white, skeletal body... but no one questioned or stopped him as he made his way back to the castle, the guards opening the door for him and letting the lizard into the wide hall. He walked down it, then smiled awkwardly at the priestess standing in front of the doorway to the reception hall where Zerrex had spoken with the Archangels earlier... but just as she bowed to him and began to turn towards the doors, they were yanked open and Lord leapt out, staring down at the Drakkaren eagerly before he winced and leapt backwards at the sight of the suit of armor. "Oh holy crap what the hell is that!"

Zerrex rolled his eyes, then he smiled awkwardly at the dumbfounded priestess before he carefully walked into the room... and Lord scuttled backwards with a wince, looking suspiciously at the armor as the priestess closed the doors behind him... and as the reptile opened his mouth, he caught movement in the corner of his eye, and his jaw hung open dumbly as he slowly looked to the side to see Lucifer looming over him, looking sharply down at the armor before he said quietly, a deep urgency in his eyes: "Talk."

"It's... what you think it is." Zerrex winced back, half-expecting Lucifer to punch him across the room as he held the armor up, but the Archangel only looked silently to the side before Lord covered his face, his body tensing up as his eyes widened in horror as he finally guessed at what the armor was. "I... Thegragon hid it away. The Goddess, I mean. She hid it in Naganis's old thinking spot, which is... on the mortal moon."

"No wonder he was gone for such lengths of time... and the book, what is that?" Lucifer asked calmly, but in an unusual gesture of nervousness, he rubbed slowly at the wolf side of his face, shaking his head a bit as his eyes flicked over to Lord, who anxiously winced and gazed back at the other Archangel.

"Naganis's journal. His last journal... he wanted it to be found, to be read if... in case something happened." Zerrex replied quietly, and Lucifer and Lord both looked silently at the Drakkaren as he carefully knelt and set the armor gently down, before picking the journal up and holding it out towards Lucifer.

He made no move to take it, and the reptile frowned a bit, then glanced towards Lord... and Lord threw up his arms with a wince, leaping backwards and rambling: "No, no, no! Hey, no! I... I can't. We can't, it's... it'd be..."

"He wanted it to be found." Zerrex said forcefully, then he looked at Lucifer, holding the book towards the Archangel again, but the half-wolf, half-lizard only looked silently, cryptically back. "This is... what you wanted me to find, isn't it? I mean, there are whole shelves of journals, but this is... this is basically his biography, and he mentions talking about his dreams, dreams of a past life, it could tells us everything we need to know about-"

Lucifer's eyes simply narrowed slightly, and Zerrex's muzzle snapped shut immediately before the Archangel slowly reached up and stroked over the top edge of the book... and then he pushed it towards Zerrex's chest, saying softly: "You found it. It's yours."

Zerrex looked at him dumbly now, and Lucifer looked back before he turned around, putting his hands behind his back and slowly walking towards the other end of the hall, head bowed. Lord softened visibly as he gazed over at his fellow Archangel, arms crossing, and then Lucifer said quietly, not looking at the Drakkaren but clearly addressing him: "We knew Naganis for years, yes. I knew him longer than Lord, and he was my closest friend. I thought when I first came to him that he would treat me as everyone else did. With fear and disdain, because I am a rare half-breed, the very rare result of just enough genetic similarities existing between my Dragokkaren mother and my wolf father to create... this."

Lucifer gestured at himself with distaste, then he shook his head slowly. "But he did not. Nor did he act as if he were superior to me, even though he was, and in every way. He was smarter. He was kinder. He was more loyal." The male's voice tinged with bitterness now, but Zerrex recognized it all too well: not resentment towards Naganis, but pure self-loathing. "And yet I was the one who let Narrius get close. I fell victim to Narrius's coaxing and the poisonous words he slipped into my head and distanced myself. I failed God; more importantly, I failed my friend, and the male I looked up to."

He turned around, his expression cold, his eyes dark and masking his emotions. "I will have someone retrieve God's other books from the moon. Vanguard Francis, or someone else I can trust, such as Lord Raze. But as you say, that journal in your hands was meant to be found, and meant to be read. It bears the symbol of Prismatic Unity on its cover... a symbol of deep importance to God. A symbol from his past, that we etched on the top of the Central Spire and is etched as well in the hidden places in Heaven, away from prying eyes.

"You found the journal for a reason, Zerrex. You found the armor for a reason." Lucifer turned around and walked over to the Drakkaren, and then he smiled, a rare, gentle expression as he reached his hands forwards and gripped the lizard's shoulders, saying quietly: "I understand you brought both things here, for us to do with what we would... but what I would do with these things is give them back to you."

Lord gaped at this, then he flailed his arms for a moment before shouting in a voice that was tinged with both frustration and what sounded almost like betrayal: "Lucifer! I understand giving him the journal, but... but that's the corpse of God! Of our God! Of your friend, does that mean nothing to you!"

"Real gifts are the ones with the most meaning to them, and the hardest to give away." Lucifer replied quietly, and then, in a harder voice, he said: "A dead body is not my friend. The materials were once God, but they are God no longer. A corpse is only an empty shell, a husk... and that shell has been forged into armor. Armor is to be worn, not put on display, not buried in the ground, not burned in ceremony."

"Lucifer, this is wrong." Lord said darkly, and the very air seemed to tingle around them as the giant stepped towards the other Archangel, gaze suddenly ferocious. "If I died, would you skin me alive and wear my bones?"

"Not even if you had any." Lucifer retorted calmly, and Lord gritted his teeth before he shook his head vehemently. Zerrex winced a bit as he stepped carefully backwards away from the two, but then Lucifer said quietly: "It was not your fault God died. It was not Zerrex's fault that God sacrificed what little of himself may have been left over, either. If anything, I see Zerrex as God's last act, his last will, his last child, and I will do whatever I can to honor that. The energies of God... of Naganis... burn inside Zerrex's soul. Giving him this armor, letting him wear it... will be like putting the soul of Naganis back inside his shell, if but for the briefest of flickers, the briefest of moments."

Lucifer gestured silently to the armor, and Lord looked down slowly, slumping his shoulders shamefully as he nodded a few times, not speaking. He rubbed at his eyes slowly with his wrist, and Zerrex looked silently at Lucifer before he said quietly: "You might have the wrong idea about me, Archangel. I... I'm no one special. I'm not the right person to have been saved, I was never... chosen by God... I don't... I don't see Naganis as anything but a god, who helped me out. As someone I would have liked to call my friend, as... a creator of us all, but not in the same way you see him. I'm not... I'm no savior, no real hero. Everything I've done, I've done because I had a hand in creating the situation... because of the darkness in me, compelling me to fight... because of my selfish desire to protect my family and hurt the people who hurt me. I'm a god, but... Athéos was a god too. Athéos and I... were more similar in a lot of ways than me and Naganis."

Zerrex glanced away, rubbing at his skull slowly... but Lucifer only shook his head before he leaned down, picking up the skull helm. He examined this for a few moments silently, then looked up and said calmly: "Would you permit me to make a small modification?"

The Drakkaren glanced over at him and shrugged a bit, hugging the book in his hand absently against his chest, and Lucifer nodded gravely before he easily turned the skull helm over and reached inside of it. Purple and white light shone out of the underside of the helm as the male's hands worked dexterously, tracing a delicate, complex pattern in a matter of only half a minute of quick, efficient work.

He held the helm back out to Zerrex as light flickered around his hand before fading, and the reptile reached down and took it... then stared at a perfect, beautiful carving of the symbol that Lucifer had called the 'Prismatic Unity' now inlaid inside the helm, surrounded by an ancient prayer in not Enochian, but Hez'Rannan... and Zerrex whispered: "How the hell did you do that so fast?"

"Practice." Lucifer replied simply, then, without any ceremony, he walked past the Drakkaren and let himself out of the hall, closing the doors as he left, not even glancing at either Archangel or lizard god. Zerrex looked stupidly over his shoulder at the doors, and Lord sighed loudly before he awkwardly shuffled around the reptile and the armor, then hesitated at the doors.

He turned around and smiled a little, saying finally: "Lucifer... has good instincts. What... can I see inside the helm? I don't want to touch it, I just... what is it?"

He looked embarrassed at his own bad phrasing, and Zerrex shook his head a bit before he held it up so the reptile could see the engraved symbol, as the reptile recited quietly: "'Doubt not your worth; repent not your joy; fear not your heart's desire.' I swear you angels must keep tabs on me or something."

"We do." Lord looked at him for a few moments awkwardly, then he looked down at the armor laying upon the ground before glancing back up at Zerrex, saying softly: "Take care of him, huh?"

Zerrex only nodded a bit, and Lord lingered for a few moments longer before he turned and left, and the Drakkaren sighed softly as he shook his head, then quietly leaned down to scoop the armor up and cradle it in his arms with the book and the skull-mask. He hesitated for a moment... then finally shrugged a bit before gritting his teeth and concentrating, and the reptile vanished from the spot to reappear a moment later in the Ravenlight Estate's main hall.

He staggered, then dropped to his knees, groaning as his head thudded with pain, recoil from the long jump hitting him hard... and slowly, he sat back on his haunches, breathing heavily through his mouth. Too many jumps in too short a time, coupled with abusing his powers too frequently and the number Negative had done on his mind... but, just as he began to climb to his feet, he winced as a portal open and Anathema Sin barreled through, an expression of incredulity on her face as Epiphany followed her curiously, then stared at her father and the armor. "Z-Zerrex!"

Anathema Sin gritted her teeth as she stood for a moment, grabbing at her skull as her two personalities visibly fought for dominance... and then she firmly rapped her hand against her own skull mask, and the flames boiling in her socket turned bright blue before she rushed forwards, whispering: "Oh... is... I... that energy, that feeling, that armor is made from... it... oh my..."

The Sin part of her rambled for a little while as Epiphany walked over to her father's side, quietly grasping his arm and looking at him silently, and Zerrex smiled at her reassuringly before she kissed his bicep quietly, and he felt her fingers tighten against his arm and her energies spilling into him, restoring his strength somewhat even as he murmured embarrassedly: "I'm fine, Epiphany..."

"Stop that, Daddy." she chided gently, and then she blushed a bit as Anathema Sin visibly warred with herself again, hammering her hands against her skull. "Mom, please take turns. Maybe you can both just listen, though, while Daddy... tells us what happened."

"Can we please sit down somewhere quiet, though? I need to rest a little and I'd like to put this... armor... down before I go and pick up the wolves." Zerrex said after a moment, and Anathema Sin stopped, then grinned at him mischievously, the reptile wincing before she reached out and grabbed his shirt, and a moment later, they vanished from the spot before reappearing outside of her cabin, the reptile's mind reeling with vertigo as Epiphany squeezed painfully into his arm. "Goddammit!"

"I couldn't resist." Anathema's voice said clearly, the female grinning before wincing as she hammered against her temple, then she turned and strode to the door, shoving it open and inviting: "Come, come, let's go inside!"

Zerrex mumbled under his breath, feeling a little nauseated from the sudden rush, but he carefully made his way into the cabin as Epiphany gazed up at him softly. Anathema Sin had already cleaned off the couch, and she looked at the reptile questioningly... and Zerrex nodded, smiling a little as he walked over and gently laid the armor down atop it, putting the skull-mask carefully down on its chest and arranging the arms of the armor so they were half-crossed. For a moment, the three only stood beside the furnishing, gazing down with reverence and amazement... and then Anathema Sin looked at him, and both females inside the fused body of the Naganatine asked at the same time, through their same muzzle, as their voices overlapped in a bizarre but musical murmur: "How?"

"Thegragon." Zerrex said quietly... and he, Epiphany, and Anathema Sin quietly headed into the kitchen to sit at the small square table together, and the Drakkaren hesitated... then simply let himself start to relay the story, starting from when he'd left the Archangels on a hunch to try and find Naganis's thinking place.

He didn't even realize he was still holding the book until he'd reached that point in the story, after telling about the vision of Naganis in tact gentility, even though Anathema Sin favored him with an impatient glare as the reptile took his time with it. Epiphany stayed by her father's side, rubbing slowly at his arm the whole while as she looked at him lovingly. The journal, he finally put on the table... and Anathema Sin snatched this up, but then only stared at it as the reptile faltered for a moment... before a strange, sad smile had spread over her face, and she'd closed her eyes and hugged it quietly against her body, rocking slowly on the spot as Zerrex finished the story with the Archangel's reaction, and what Lucifer had said.

The reptile was unsurprised when he glanced up and saw Amiglion standing in the doorway between small kitchen and living room, the Naganatine smiling faintly, his ceremonial mask dangling from his fingers quietly. It didn't matter what duties he'd been doing, if he'd been in council or in negotiations or anything else... the moment he'd felt the presence, the energy of the armor, he'd probably rushed his way over to see them. "Hey."

"Hey." Zerrex replied quietly, and then he glanced over to Anathema Sin, who was visibly consulting with herself, eyes closed, still hugging the book against her chest. Then, finally, she smiled a bit at him, and the reptile asked quietly: "Well? What do you think I should do with it?"

"You can't wear it." Anathema Sin said softly, and Zerrex looked relieved for a moment despite the faint disappointment he felt... before he winced as she added gently: "Or rather, you can't wear it just yet."

"What are you talking about?" the reptile asked flatly, and Anathema Sin only smiled at him before she looked at Amiglion, who frowned at first... but then sighed and nodded slowly after a moment, the reptile wincing a bit. "Oh great, when you two agree on something, it's never any good for me."

"Sister and brother and I..." Anathema Sin stopped, looked down, then gazed back up, saying quietly: "You were meant to find this. Lucifer thinks so, we think so... but despite how much it feels of... our beloved Naganis... there is also a taint from Thegragon there as well. No, more like a stain, harmless to you, but foul. We wish... to honor Naganis. We will invite our brother, Silven, from Heaven, too... and we will sanctify his body and..." Anathema Sin stopped for a moment, reaching up to rub at her eyes slowly as she whispered: "We'd like to say our goodbyes, and our apologies that we never got to say. And after that... when we are done with the ritual... you will wear the armor."

Zerrex began to protest, and then Anathema Sin slammed her hands against the ground, standing up and saying sharply: "It's not just about protecting you, or putting it to use! It's about honoring the will of Naganis... do you really think it's just coincidence that led you there?"

"Yes." Zerrex said blandly, and Anathema Sin glared at him furiously even as Amiglion coughed and covered his muzzle to repress his giggles and Epiphany sighed and smiled a little at her father. "So basically. I'm going to wear your god like a suit. And you want me to do this. Your friend, your father, your-"

"They are only materials now..." Anathema was clearly the one talking as she flicked her wrist dismissively, and Zerrex wondered if she really felt that way or if she was just stealing an argument from Lucifer. "And besides. You are our friend, our father, our god now."

"I do love it when you call me Daddy." Zerrex said mildly, smiling a little despite himself, and now Anathema Sin relaxed visibly, smiling back at him as she held a hand out. He reached across the table, taking it silently, and he nodded as he softly: "Look. I know that... if Naganis's energies do live on inside me, then... I kind of... should stop freaking out about this. Gods know that the very fact Negative hates the armor so much seems like... a good reason to put it on alone."

Anathema Sin nodded, saying softly: "Then we'll begin preparations for the ceremonies immediately. Epiphany can help as well... she's old enough." The female smiled softly at her daughter, and the young girl blushed but smiled warmly in return. "And Naganen should also have a part in this. The real question is whether we do this here, in Elysium, or in Acheron. Either way, you must be present."

Zerrex groaned and rubbed at his head slowly, but then he nodded after a moment and said finally: "Fine. Acheron was Thegragon's domain, though..."

"Which is why it's fitting to be the place where we wash away whatever influence she's tried to leave on this armor." Anathema Sin replied calmly, and now it was more Sin's voice that was speaking as she gazed lovingly at Zerrex and squeezed his hand slowly. "Her realm is your realm now, where your power is near-absolute. More importantly, we will be safe from interruptions there... safer even than in the Cloister or the Deep Temple."

The reptile nodded after a moment, and he rubbed at the underside of his muzzle slowly before he murmured: "Well, I guess it does have a kind of poetic justice about it, too. I admittedly like that... and it would probably be easier to move everyone to Acheron than bring Naganen back here, with how uncomfortable he is in your Tower, Sin."

"Anathema Sin." the female said pettishly, and Zerrex grinned a bit at the way her personality could shift back and forth so quickly. It made her chaotic... and yet exotic, too, and eternally interesting. "The choice is ultimately yours."

"Then Acheron it is. When you get there, you can even ask Earth to set up one of the temples... but I need to get back to Heaven. By now, Mary's probably consoling the wolves over Jeannine or something..." Zerrex grimaced a little, rubbing at his face absently, and then he leaned down and kissed Epiphany's forehead gently, saying softly: "But call together all the Disciples, alright? They... they should all be there for this, then. Bring everyone you feel would be important, show them the way to Acheron. I'll get there as soon as I can to help with preparations."

"Alright, Lord Zerrex. As you command." Anathema Sin smiled a bit, bowing her head towards him, and Zerrex nodded back as their hands squeezed tightly together before they let go. The reptile stood... but then he looked down curiously as Epiphany gazed at him softly, and the reptile smiled a little as he said softly: "I'll come back soon. Come on, Epiphany."

Epiphany smiled and blushed a bit as she shyly held onto his arm, Amiglion stepping out of the doorway so the two could make their way through the living room and outside, Zerrex giving one last glance at the armor... and when he closed the cottage door behind him, the female gazed up at him, saying softly: "You're being hard on yourself again, aren't you? I can feel it..."

She hugged him tightly around the waist, and Zerrex hugged her back, mala clinking quietly around his neck as he closed his eyes and said softly: "That's not for little girls to worry about, Epiphany. Don't you worry about your Daddy, he just gets... thinking too much every now and then."

"I do worry about you, though." she gazed up at him, reaching her hands up to cup his face gently as she turned his head back and forth, and the reptile blushed a bit before she kissed his lips chastely and then smiled a little, saying quietly: "Would you mind if I took some of the genetic data from the armor, if any exists inside of it, and add it to Equinox?"

Zerrex looked down at her softly, hesitating... but then he nodded slowly, reaching up and stroking her face gently as he said quietly: "But you know the rules. Data mapping, but no taking actual powers from things like that."

"I know, Daddy. I'd never dream of doing that." Epiphany smiled lovingly up at him, and Zerrex smiled back before she gently slid her hands along his chest and grasped his shoulders, and their muzzles met in another slow kiss for a few long moments before she pulled away, reaching her hands up with a blush to stroke quietly over her own bone mask as her body shivered a bit. "But you'd better go, before I get too excited."

"I better." Zerrex smiled a little wider, then he stepped forwards and hugged her firmly, and she clutched him tightly, pushing against his chest and breathing softly before slowly pulling away and gazing at him lovingly. Then Zerrex winked before he concentrated... and a moment later, vanished from the spot, only to reappear once more in Heaven, on another large, concrete landing platform.

Angels in white armor barely paid any attention to him even as he grimaced and clutched at his chest, a thud of pain running through his mind before one of them barked: "Off the platform, this is a busy portal point!"

He felt a spear poke at him, and the reptile swatted at it grouchily as he walked to the edge of the concrete platform and hopped off onto a crowded stone street, looking back and forth through the milling group of people. He stood for a moment, getting his bearings as his mind ached, knowing he'd have to rest for a while before he made another big jump... and he grimaced when a large ursine angel bumped into him before the reptile's hand shot out and seized his wrist, the bear's eyes bulging in shock and fingers as the lizard said dryly: "Nothing in my pockets, but that doesn't mean I like people trying to steal from me nonetheless."

"S-Sorry..." the bear grinned weakly, and Zerrex rolled his eyes as he let the ursine go, watching the male vanish quickly into the crowd. Not an angel, but a Benevolent: a mortal who had died and gone to Heaven, yet obviously hadn't gotten over all his mortal vices quite yet. Funny who the Council decides to let in and who they send to Hell...

For the most part, the process of a soul going to Heaven, Hell, or the Unworld was decided by a person's own soul: the mind could be sociopathic, the heart could be wicked, but a soul tainted with darkness was naturally drawn towards Hell, just as one that was pure was naturally pulled towards Heaven. It was a magnetism that had to do with the essences of Corruption and Purity that pervaded the two now-planets... but sometimes, souls were fought over in the dissociation or limbo by Reapers who served either Heaven or Hell, or by powerful angels, demons, and even gods.

This process had been mostly banned ever since Zerrex had put an end to the war games, however, countless years ago in Heaven and Hell time before the merge... but the Heavenly Council still often acted like they were at war with demons, every now and then sending Hounds or other retrieval units to steal souls out of limbo and drag them up to Heaven. They also had adopted a sick kind of moral standard, every now and then tossing out a soul as 'unworthy' and forcefully someone down to Hell, or in rare cases, 'accidentally' returning a lost soul to the mortal plane... but Lucifer and Lord looked very nastily down on this, and it was one of the few times where they could actively punish members of the Heavenly Council or threaten to revoke their authority.

Zerrex sighed a bit as he began to walk down the street, letting his feet guide him as he glanced at the tall whitewashed buildings that towered to the sky above, the rooftops of several towering structures almost brushed by the bottom of a massive floating island when it rumbled by overhead. Street vendors were at either side of the road, wooden carts and stands with all manner of merchandise set up, and the reptile glanced absently at some as they passed, but by now knew better than to buy much in Heaven. A lot of the stuff was just cheap knockoffs of mortal goods, after all.

The reptile glanced ahead and winced a bit as he saw a patrol of Paladins walking through the street, and the lizard hurried to the side of the road, not wanting to be caught in their way. He watched as they passed with a group of angels, then carefully pushed onwards once their backs were to him: more than once, he had run into a patrol that worked directly under the Council of Heaven, and they would do anything and everything they could to make his life miserable once they got wind of him being up here, a 'heathen god' in the streets of paradise.

The Drakkaren walked onwards... and he was unsurprised when he came to a small, beautiful park and found Mary sitting on a bench, her back to the street. He leaned on the back of the bench, looking curiously at the small brook that cut through the park, the grass vibrant with energy and tall trees dotting the rolling landscape... but what did come as a surprise was seeing Lone and Mahihko standing on a curved stone bridge, and a female white wolf beside them, who was looking resolutely down at the water even as they talked, voices inaudible at this distance. "Are they actually getting along?"

"Kind of." Mary shrugged a bit, then smiled at him softly as she glanced up, acting as if he'd always been here. The reptile smiled back at her, and then he hopped over the bench and sat down beside her, the angel gently stroking over his forearm as she said softly: "You were gone for quite a while. Did something happen?"

"You wouldn't believe it. But then again, I can barely believe they're still talking." Zerrex motioned at the wolves in the distance, and Mary laughed again and shook her head, looking amused at the reptile's deflecting tactics, if anything.

She went along with it though, looking towards the lupines and saying slowly: "I think... she's trying to forgive them. I mean, I can certainly understand why it would be hard for her, but I think she's trying. But I also think she really... doesn't want to think about her past at all anymore, or her mortal life. A lot of angels can be like that, you know, especially... the ones who used to be mortal. They want to forget they were anything except for angels, and act like their life only began after they were granted their wings... and now that, you know, mortals aren't being granted wings as often as they were in the past... that it's once more a huge rarity and a huge honor, the mortal-angels like myself, well. They can get a little... stupid. I was a little stupid about it too, though, so I'm not one to talk."

"I can't imagine you ever being stupid, Mary." Zerrex said softly, glancing over at her, and she laughed quietly and shook her head slowly, black eyes glimmering with amusement.

"Oh yeah? Remember all my ex-boyfriends I told you about, how I always dated bad boys and jocks? That was pretty stupid." She smiled a bit at him, tickling her fingers up to his bicep before she gazed over at the wolves, saying softly: "So what's got you so freaked out, Boss?"

"God damn you all and your stupid connection to me." Zerrex said grumpily, and Mary laughed before she hugged his arm firmly, and the reptile smiled despite himself as he looked down at her, saying dryly: "This is why I didn't want Disciples. Now you people can all see right through me when I'm in close proximity like this. And gods know none of us ever talk over the phone."

"Stop deflecting." Mary chastised gently, and the reptile grumbled a bit and looked at her moodily, and she gazed back at him for a few moments before smiling slightly. "Come on, spill it, or I'll tell the wolves, too, and you know how they get."

The reptile sighed and nodded after a moment, and then he said quietly: "Kind of a lot. Mika... poor Mika was murdered." He nodded again when Mary's expression became grave. "As if that wasn't enough, I found out... the Goddess took Naganis's remains, and made a suit of armor with them. I found it, but... Negative tried to rip my head off. Literally. I brought the armor back, but Lucifer said he wanted me to have it, so... Anathema Sin and the other Naganatine are going to cleanse it or something and... they want me to wear it."

For a little while Mary was quiet as they sat together, and then she said softly: "I guess that makes sense. It would be a shame to waste it... and whether I understand it or not, if Anathema Sin knows about this and probably is heading this whole cleansing ritual just so you can wear the armor... I can't say anything bad about it."

"You can say anything that's on your mind." Zerrex said softly, and Mary gazed over at him with entertainment before she grabbed gently into his shirt.

"I can, but some things have a place and some things don't. The magnetism you exude, especially because of... our past, makes me want to tell you to fuck me, like you'd fuck one of the females who have always practiced well with their bodies for you, instead of... little old shy me, who can barely take all of you in." Mary said softly, pulling him gently down a bit, and Zerrex blushed a little despite himself as she continued in a murmur: "Part of me, maybe the part that's been tinged by your darkness, wants you to drag me down to your Deep Temple. To tell you to do to me what you did to Cherry. Part of me is nostalgic for the old days, and wants to bring up Baskin's Grove and all the good times we had, even if there really... weren't a lot of them, but knowing you and spending the time with you I did was more than enough.

"A lot of the things... that are on my mind, Boss, are things that don't have a place in our normal conversations. Questions. Nostalgias. Fears. And most of all, these... things I barely understand." She gestured at herself quietly, smiling faintly. "I don't miss who I am, but part of me wants to be that way again, you know? But I don't want to say that out loud, because it sounds... bad. Bitter. Like I'm mad at you, when I couldn't be happier with what you've done to me... I mean, with how you've shaped me. That... that sounds much better, I'm sorry."

She laughed a little, then shook her head and gazed at the wolves, and Zerrex looked up quietly as well, their eyes lingering on the talking lupines in the distance as Jeannine finally turned towards Lone and Mahihko, and then they watched as she hesitantly traded hugs with the two wolves before stepping back and looking at them... then nodding to them. As Jeannine began to leave, Zerrex said softly: "We all want the past back, even when it's a bad one, I think. We all want to... see different decisions, or be comfortable in the familiarity of our old selves, if we end up somewhere new and strange, no matter how delightful or hostile it is. I wish I could be mortal, all the time... but I know I can't be. I can't afford to be: yes. Gods, yes, I can't deny I... I love what I can do with this power."

He stopped, then looked down at his hands, whispering: "But it scares me so much. So goddamn much, too. I'm not Naganis. I have so many flaws, I've done so many bad things... and I'm scared I've enslaved you all to my will, literally or metaphorically. I don't want that... I think... I think I just want to be loved. And I know that if I was mortal... I couldn't protect you all. I couldn't help people. I'd be happy and irresponsible and free... but who knows what the cost would be to all the people around me?"

He laughed a little... and then glanced to the side when Mary stroked up over his shoulder and said softly: "You don't have to save us, Zerrex. You don't have to always be there to protect us... you need to let us protect ourselves now and then. But even more importantly... I wish so goddamn fucking much you would just stop piling all this on yourself, and let us protect you just once."

She nestled herself against his arm, trembling a bit and closing her eyes... and even though she looked only as if she was cuddling comfortably against him, the reptile felt her sadness, her pain, her grief; Mary, who had died for his sins, Mary, who perhaps even more than him, blamed herself for everything. Sweet, tender Mary... and he closed his eyes, but then forced a smile when the two lupines approached, both thankfully too elated to notice the grim air around the two. "Looks like it went well, wolves."

"I said we could take her to Acheron, Dad, I hope that's okay!" Lone blurted, and Zerrex gaped stupidly at him, the crushing sense of despair forgotten in the stupefaction that followed these words as Mahihko nodded furiously. "We said it would be. You can do that, right?"

"I... I don't control Heaven!" Zerrex grimaced at the two, holding his hands out as he replied flatly: "I... idiots! What the hell! I... why? Why did you even offer that?"

"I was worried about her!" Lone said defensively, and then Mahihko tugged at his wrist, and the two shared a look before Lone added quickly: "But she totally has travel papers and everything, yeah, that's right! She's not a peacekeeper but like... she works with the merchants and shit, so she's used to travelling back and forth on trade errands and shit and... she can totally leave any time she likes. She's going home to get her stuff and... then... she's gonna leave with us. That's okay, right?"

He looked lamely at Zerrex, who grabbed at his face and rubbed at it slowly, and then he dropped his hands and looked moodily at the wolves. They both had large-eyed expressions of half-pleading, half-worrying on their features, however, and the lizard finally sighed a bit before he muttered: "Fine. Fine, okay, you two win. Just... please. Next time, don't go and jump the goddamn gun on me, alright? I... it's just her, right?"

He paused, then glared at the wolves as they shuffled awkwardly on their paws before Mahihko added meekly: "And her girlfriend."

"Oh, wonderful." Zerrex muttered, and then he looked moodily from one wolf to the other before rubbing at his forehead slowly. "Girlfriend... is she still with that female I met when she was mortal? Well. Kind of met."

"No, she broke up with her about two minutes after... Lone Wulfe accidentally charmed her up." Lone said dumbly, raising a finger, and he winced at the sourly-amused look Zerrex gave him. "You know what, fuck you, because they were horrible for each other anyway. No, I don't know who this new chick is, but... I dunno. I guess we'll find out all together, huh? We're supposed to meet her in an hour, and... um. Faggot and I are hungry."

"I want coffee." Mahihko said brightly, and Zerrex sighed and looked at the sky for patience as Mary smiled despite herself, standing up and looking amused when the little wolf immediately clung to her hand. "Sorry we kept you waiting so long, Mary! We didn't think we'd talk so much or that... Daddy would be so long himself!"

"Yes, blame it on me." Zerrex said moodily, but then he stood up and looked at Mary, asking mildly: "You know this city at all?"

"Not really, but we did pass a café on the way here we can probably take a break at. It wasn't near the street vendors or anything, so it should be quiet." Mary said softly, and her eyes met the lizard's, their gazes lingering, speaking to each other before they both smiled hesitantly and nodded, and she said softly: "Thank you."

Zerrex only smiled back when the wolves both cocked their heads quizzically at the same time, and then he reached out and put Lone in a headlock, the larger wolf flailing his arms and gagging as Mahihko giggled happily. The lupine managed to tear himself away from the lizard after a moment, but he glared at him, disgruntled, before Zerrex returned his eyes to Mary and said with a smile: "Lead on."

The ivory feline gladly did so, gently taking the lizard's hand as they walked together through the streets, Mahihko giggling as he held her other and Lone following awkwardly with his hands in his pockets, moping a little until the Drakkaren finally rolled his eyes and grabbed the wolf's wrist, making him blush but smile at the same time as he grasped quietly into Zerrex's pocket and allowed himself to be pulled along. They looked like some kind of awkward blended family: mother and father with adopted adult children, one of whom had a dumb grin on his features and the other looking much more like a pretty young girl than just a male in a dress.

They made their way down the street, and Zerrex looked up in surprise as they entered the rich district of Penitence, staring up at the tall buildings and letting his eyes rose back and forth with interest as Mary said softly: "Apparently Jeannine has been doing very well for herself... importing and exporting goods is very profitable, after all. I think she's even using methods that she learned over the years of time spent with the Wulfe family."

Lone winced a bit at this, glancing away abashedly as Mahihko hummed cheerfully to himself, oblivious of the conversation as he skipped down the street with Mary's hand clutched tightly in his own. Then, before Zerrex could ask about anything, the little wolf giggled and pointed, saying eagerly: "Look, there's a place!"

Zerrex glanced up and smiled a little as the group paused, looking past the fewer people dressed in much-nicer clothing wandering through these streets, and the few obvious sightseers that had come to look at Heaven's gleaming towers and ivory palisades. The café across the street didn't exactly fit in with all of that, made of a darker stone and surrounded by a thin, black steel fence from which hung a variety of golden ornaments, the archway leading into the patio in front of the café itself tall and with a sign above that was labeled something in Enochian. Zerrex wasn't as good at the angelic runes, but he thought there was something familiar about the name as they walked towards it... and then he grimaced a bit as he caught sight of the door leading into the café itself past the plain patio and the large apple tree on it. "Oh balls."

"What?" Mary looked at him inquisitively, but then the two wolves ran ahead, Mahihko giggling as he sprinted past the few tables on the wooden deck and Lone chasing the little wolf with a laugh. Zerrex rolled his eyes at this behavior, smiling despite himself, and then he winced when Mary nudged him firmly with an elbow, repeating: "What?"

"They remodeled from the last time I was here." Zerrex said blandly, as the two stepped onto the deck and walked across to the doorway... and then he smiled when he opened the door, the expression both nervous and amused as he looked around the magically-enlarged interior, a huge, spacious crescent lined with all variety of tables. At the back of this was a large, slightly-curved counter, the kitchen area behind this filled with coffeemakers, mortal machinery, and angels in neat white and black uniforms. They were neat and polished, and yet at the same time, very casual, not like much of Heaven's over-exaggerated order.

The feline looked up at him with surprise, and the reptile smiled a bit as he approached the counter, saying finally: "When Raze and I hang out... we often end up coming here. The thing is, however, this isn't just Raze's favorite drop-in location..."

The reptile glanced back and forth, and the ivory-furred cat gently touched his arm, asking curiously: "Does that mean we should go?"

"No, no. Well. No." Zerrex hesitated, but then he sighed as he realized the wolves were already at the counter, Mahihko bouncing up and down on his paws as Lone stared at the variety of imported foods available. "We just shouldn't linger."

He approached the two lupines, and Lone smiled over his shoulder at him before a chipper-looking clerk approached. She smiled at the wolves, then looked at Zerrex before her eyes widened in recognition, and she laughed a bit, asking kindly: "Not out with the handsome prince today?"

"If by 'handsome' you also mean 'scary,' no." Lone interjected helpfully, and Zerrex rolled his eyes, shoving the back of the wolf's head down for a moment and making him yelp before he rose a hand. "Black and large, just like Raze!"

"Six cream ten sugar, large!" Mahihko piped up cheerfully, and Zerrex stared at him with horror as the little wolf beamed at the clerk. "I like sugar!"

"Medium double-double, and a blueberry muffin, please. And a half-dozen box of donuts, assorted. Don't you worry, Zerrex, I'll pay." Mary smiled over at the lizard, and he smiled in return, deciding not to argue at the look she gave him.

"Alright, alright." He stopped as he realized awkwardly the trio and the clerk were all looking at him, and he rubbed the back of his head before muttering: "French vanilla cappuccino, extra large, and a croissant."

"Croissant!" Mahihko giggled delightedly, clapping his hands childishly, and then he and Lone both hopped up to their paws, dancing childishly on the spot at the same time. Zerrex sighed at their behavior, but he knew a lot of it had to do with the fact they were both so elated and energetic after working things out with Jeannine... and of course, after not being yelled at for inviting her along to Acheron. "Croissant!"

The clerk looked at Zerrex with an amused smile, and the reptile shrugged awkwardly before Mary elbowed the lizard to the side and pulled out a small bag of coins to pay the bill. Immediately, Zerrex turned to the wolves, turning them around and ushering them towards the door as he said dryly: "We'll be out on the patio. Hopefully all in one piece."

"Croissant!" Mahihko exclaimed again, then he covered his muzzle and giggled as Lone rolled his eyes and tried to act mature for a moment before jumping onto Mahihko's back, and the little wolf squeaked even as the larger lupine clung tenaciously to him, staggering forwards on his oversized paws as he hurried towards the doors. "Pony, pony, pony!"

Zerrex rubbed at his head slowly, then he winced when Mahihko barreled into the door and the two wolves fell backwards, both apparently having forgotten the doors pushed open from the outside. People around the area stared at them, but Zerrex simply hefted both stupefied wolves to their paws, then opened the door, and they stumbled dumbly outside and over to a table as Mahihko sniffled a little and Lone rubbed at his head, the lizard saying dryly: "You idiots are going to attract attention doing stuff like that around here."

The two blushed a bit, then Mahihko slapped at Lone and Lone grabbed at the little wolf even as they sat down around the circular, simple table, and Zerrex sighed as he rested back in his own seat, looking out towards the road... then wincing when he saw a patrol of dragoons were staring at them. Immediately, he kicked Lone in the shin, and both wolves flinched and looked up sharply before following Zerrex's gaze... and the moment their eyes settled on the white-armored warriors now scrutinizing them from outside the gates, they both tried to sit up straight and looked down at the table with equal blushes, but this only made them look all the more suspicious before one of the dragoons produced a logbook and began to flip through it quickly.

Zerrex winced: here on business or not, they were demons and a god in a city of Heaven, apparently taking a coffee break. In strictly-controlled Heaven - and worse, since Zerrex had technically finished their business and the only reason they were still here was because the lizard needed to rest before he could make another jump - this would be frowned upon. Worse still, they could actually be arrested... and while the Drakkaren could probably mash the dragoon unit into pulp just by glaring at them angrily enough, the Heavenly Council still saw him as a resident and representative of Hell, and he couldn't exactly afford creating a political escalation. Of course, the most annoying part about the whole process was the fact that he was an ambassador... but in Heaven, there was no such thing as diplomatic immunity, even though in Elysium angels expected to be able to parade around, snobbishly doing whatever they wanted. Crap, crap, crap...

The dragoon closed his logbook after a moment and began to stomp forwards... and then, almost out of nowhere, another armored figure appeared and shoved the dragoon roughly backwards. The angel looked up with a snarl... then immediately wilted backwards, shrinking almost literally before the figure that stood before him as the rest of the unit saluted sharply. And now Zerrex groaned and grabbed at his forehead as things got both better and worse, just as Mary exited the doors and tilted her head curiously as she approached, holding a plastic tray between her hands upon which sat their coffee and boxes of food. "What's going on?"

"Pain." Zerrex muttered under his breath, and then he winced and grinned dumbly as the figure in front of the dragoons approached the archway, stepping through it and crossing her arms beneath her breasts as she walked slowly towards their table. Both Lone and Mahihko whimpered and shrank at the sight of her as Mary stared in shock, and Zerrex cleared his throat as he rose a hand hesitantly. "Uh. Hi."

The female was some ten feet tall, her long legs covered in heavy steel alloy boots and chainmail that fed upwards into metal plates locked around her groin, a half-skirt of larger, thinner steel blades hanging from a serrated belt. Her breasts were huge and cupped by her shaped body armor, but her visible cleavage was marred with scars. Sitting almost in the center of her chest, embossed in the corset-like metal armor, was a glowing gemstone, and the breastplate was shaped so it clung tightly to her body, which was surprisingly thin at the waist, giving her an exaggerated hourglass figure. Oversized cups covered each shoulder, and her upper arms were bare, revealing purple scales that were much darker than the ones covering her breasts and inner chest visible. Heavy, complex steel gloves covered her hands, going up her forearms in stacked, layered plates, and protecting her elbows with half-cups that went over them tipped with deadly-looking spikes: but far scarier than the spikes they were tipped with, or the smaller, conical thorns sticking out of the knuckles of the gloves, were the enormous, spring-loaded blades standing on each forearm like deadly, razor-like fins.

Most frightening of all, however, was the mask that covered her face entirely: the plates that fit snugly over her muzzle were lineless, invisible seams connecting hidden section-to-section and smoothly locking into a thick collar that went around her neck, studded with a diamond-shaped stone of lapis lazuli. The eyes of the mask were made of bulbous, black-tinted glass that was impossible to see through from this side, and tall, golden fins stood out from her forehead to the back of her skull: similar indeed to Cherry's, but these ones had more of a razor-like, synthetic look to them.

Thick, grey tubes and cables extended from the back of her mask, feeding down into her back and, Zerrex knew, a large power unit that rested along her spine on the outside of the armor, cylindrical and solid, and thick armored plates went down the top of the length of her tail. She reached up, her featureless mask facing Zerrex as she grasped the elongated handle of an immense sword resting across her back, and the reptile winced a little as she pulled the weapon free and let it hang loosely at her side in obvious challenge: the blade was perhaps eight feet long, and almost three wide, rectangular and terrifying, gleaming white and more than an inch thick. The handle added another three feet, and ended in a simple round knob that Zerrex knew from experience hurt like hell to get hit with.

The two looked at each other... and then the female reached her other hand up and grasped the end of her mask, pressing her fingers into a hidden catch on the bottom. Air hissed loudly as the plates unlocked and the seams became visible, and a moment later she pulled the front portion of her facemask up, revealing sharply-beautiful features marred by the claw-scars down the left side of her face; they travelled over a glass eye that burned with crimson light, her other iris bright blue as she asked mockingly: "Well, aren't you gonna introduce me, Zerrex?"

"No." Zerrex replied mildly, and the female let go of her mask to hold out her hand: in a matter of moments, grey, pixel-like blocks assembled themselves in her grip and shaped rapidly into the form of a large, simple dagger, which she stabbed firmly down into the table in front of the reptile, and immediately the lizard winced and brought his legs up and his hands back, leaning back in his chair as she glared at him. "Mahihko, Lone, Mary, this is Lady Sephire. She's Raze's mother."

"And don't you forget it." Sephire let go of the knife and it vanished as she leaned back, spinning the massive sword in her hand with smooth dexterity as if it weighed nothing more than a pencil. "Now, Zerrex. You know Heaven's got a bug up its butt about gods and demons just hangin' around, not following the rules, dirtying up our streets with their presence. You also know that as a General of Heaven and being the so-called First Lady, I can easily give you guys a reason to be here... or I can kick your asses out. And you know that I don't like doin' no favors for no one, not even handsome males like yourself who make my son squeal like a little girl. Or. Like that thing probably squeals."

She pointed at Mahihko, who whimpered a bit as the female grinned at him hungrily, and both he and Lone slowly shrank down behind the table before Zerrex said dryly: "So let me guess. You want me to spar with you."

"If you think you can keep up with me." Sephire said amiably, and when Lone glared at her, she simply flicked her wrist, and a second later a line of daggers shot out of midair, a dozen or so slamming down into the wood of the table in front of the wolf and making him squeak and fall backwards in his chair in shock, staring in horror before the metal daggers vanished. "Now, now, pretty-boy. Don't go pushing my buttons."

"I'll push your goddamn buttons." Zerrex grinned at her a bit though, and Sephire only licked her lips slowly as she half-lidded her eyes, reaching a hand forwards to stroke gently and teasingly under his muzzle.

"Now careful, handsome, you know how mad Raze gets when you flirt with me." she replied playfully, then she laughed and headed towards the street before pulling her mask down, and the separated plates along the underside of her muzzle and over her cheeks melded smoothly back together. When she spoke again, her voice sounded deeper, the mask making both tone and her very presence far more menacing: "By Order 513 of Imperial Law, passed in the name of the Heavenly Council, I invoke a duel with a non-resident being! Clear the street!"

To accent this, Sephire flicked her wrist, and massive gates made from barbed and blade-tipped spears ripped out of the ground some forty feet apart. Dragoons and civilians both immediately fled off the road as Zerrex sighed a bit and rolled his eyes as the theatrics, getting to his feet even as the wolves whimpered and Mary asked sharply: "Zerrex, wait, is this a good idea?"

"No." Zerrex said plainly, but then he smiled reassuringly as he reached up and gently patted her cheek as Sephire impatiently shoved her sword down into the ground and crossed her arms, tapping her booted foot. "I'll just be a few minutes, okay?"

He headed out to the road, people gathered on the 'safe' sides of the tall steel fences, the Drakkaren rolling his head on his shoulders as he stood a short distance away from the female. He could sense her excited grin through the facemask as he absently cracked his knuckles before he calmly began to unbutton his dress shirt, then he pulled it off as she waited for him, the spectators silent as the Dragoons anxious paraded back and forth along the rooftops, eager to watch: likely both in the hopes that Zerrex would be savagely beaten down and that he might land a few hard blows to the vicious female.

Sephire, Lord's wife, mother of Raze, a General of Heaven's grand forces: a powerful goddess in her own right, brash and courageous and fearless, she had also been the first volunteer for when the Heavenly Council had decided to put forwards an augmentation program for the military forces, when Hell and Heaven had been at war and during a period countless years ago when angels had been at a marked disadvantage. She and ninety-nine other test subjects had been subjected to amplification, modification, and enhancement by techniques stolen from mortals and modified by the cruel scientists and calculating mages of Heaven to try and produce 'ultimate warriors;' a horribly-mortal, dangerously-flawed concept that should never have been allowed in Heaven, would never have been permitted by Naganis, and was shut down violently by Lord the moment he'd discovered what they'd actually done to his wife. Originally, the hope had been that allowing Sephire to volunteer for the program would mean the Heavenly Council-backed scientists and mages would be more eager to stay inside the rules of Heaven... but instead, they had only been more cruel, more savage, more relentless in their pursuit of building a super-soldier who would obey the every whim of the Council.

The Council, of course, had denied any knowledge of what had been going on and used the excuse that they had been told a much-different program was going to be implemented... but the damage had been done. Seventy-seven candidates were killed by the initial phase of testing. Another dozen or so were killed by the second stage of enhancement process. And only Sephire survived the brutal three months of 'augmentation' through the darkest magic and the cruelest sciences that the angels could get their hands on.

Nonetheless, Sephire had survived; it would not entirely be wrong to call her a 'cyborg,' in mortal terms now, however, even if the machinery that amplified the goddess was more magical in nature than scientific. Zerrex couldn't imagine how after they had done this to Sephire, after the people the Council had put through such horrendous tortures, Lord could still defend them after all these years... and then the reptile readied himself slowly as his right arm flexed before becoming silvery-steel, clenching his hand into a fist as he said calmly: "I'm ready whenever you are."

Sephire leaned forwards slightly, her body thrumming with energy... and then she tore her sword out of the ground and lunged forwards, Zerrex wincing as he slammed his fist out and barely repelled the first vicious slash of her sword before she swung her left hand out in a hard punch, the razors on her snapping upwards to form deadly wristblades. Zerrex cursed as stepped to the side, at the same time slapping the blade of the sword as Sephire began to bring it back, and she grunted as she stumbled to the side before the Drakkaren stepped forwards and punched her hard across the face, denting the steel of her mask.

Her head barely twitched to the side, however, and she let her arms fall limp as she laughed loudly. "Oh, fuck you, Zerrex, you can do better than that! That's how you hit a lady... and I ain't no fucking lady!"

With that, she stepped forwards and slammed her foot into Zerrex's stomach, knocking him flying backwards to crash onto his back and skid almost all the way to the far fence, clutching at his stomach with a curse before Sephire tossed her sword into the air, and he winced as it disintegrated above her head before the female flicked her right hand, and the other set of wristblades popped forwards before she charged towards him. A goddess with the power to command the elements before her enhancements, after her 'augmentation' she had gained the ability to completely control and alter all metals around her to her will, even transmuting the environment itself into steel. The only exception to her powers was the metal that made up the lizard's arm, and Zerrex gritted his teeth as he snapped this out and an elegant blade tore out of his wrist, leaping forwards and lashing this outwards.

Sephire caught the blade between the long razors extending out over her own hands, swinging her head forwards... but the reptile leaned out of the way of the headbutt before his body flexed as he snarled, shoving against her with his full might. She pushed back with both hands, however, growling beneath the mask as her own body bulged with power, trembling hard as their locked weapons shook violently, neither giving more than an inch of space before pushing back... and then Sephire suddenly leapt backwards, Zerrex stumbling before he cursed as daggers formed in midair around him, shooting violently downwards and ripping slashes and welts along the lizard's scales before he gritted his teeth and rose his left forearm as several volleys of knives launched directly at his body and face.

They only ricocheted off, however, as his scales became metallic, blue energy zapping over his form and adding another layer of armor before Sephire leapt forwards as electricity boiled down both her arms... but Zerrex swung his metal arm around in a wide windmill as if about to throw an underhand fastball before he stabbed his blade up towards her stomach-

Sephire's wristblades caught the blade between them just as the tip sank into her armor, hissing as she caught herself in midair and a bit of her dark blood rolled down the blade, electricity sizzling down over the lizard's metallic frame and along her own body as they both winced... and then she shoved herself backwards as Zerrex leapt away, and the female retracted both wristblades, panting hungrily beneath her mask as the Drakkaren grinned widely, his own blade retracting before the two lunged at each other... and then both skidded to a halt as Lord slammed down between them, the behemoth reptile shouting: "Hold it!"

Sephire skidded to a halt, flailing her arms, and Zerrex winced and almost staggered into one of Lord's outstretched palms before he regained his balance, and then they both squeaked when Lord seized his wife and the Drakkaren by the back of the neck, the two flailing their limbs childishly as the Archangel said in a frustrated voice: "What's going on here? I just got a message saying there was a huge disturbance involving a god and you, Sephire, and here I find you once more at it! Why can't you two behave? What if Raze saw this?"

"He'd probably enjoy it." Zerrex rose a finger, and Lord looked at him moodily, the lizard clearing his throat and then glaring over at Sephire, pointing a finger at her. "She started it!"

"I was invoking my right as a high-standing member of Heaven, I get to beat the shit out of whoever I want!" Sephire complained as she reached up and pulled her mask up, mostly so she could favor her husband with a pout. "His business was done here and he wasn't in the logbooks. I figured if he wanted to stay in Heaven so badly he could at least prove his worth about being here. Him and those little demon wolves."

"Zerrex was here on invitation from the Archangels. From me and Lucifer." Lord dropped them both, then he sighed and grabbed his forehead as Sephire and Zerrex both quickly ran out of range of the long arms of the Archangel. They looked at him as he dropped his hands and glared from one to the other, and then he said finally: "I don't want to have to come and break up another fight, do you hear me? This isn't the proper place for that. I expect better from both of you."

Sephire crossed her arms and sulked as Zerrex rubbed at his head and glanced away with a mumble, and Lord looked from one to the other before he turned away, holding up a hand and creating a white portal. He paused for a moment, however, glancing over his shoulder at them moodily, but then didn't say anything and instead simply left.

Zerrex and Sephire glared at each other, and then the female reached up and unlocked the helm from her collar, fumbling at the plating that went beneath her muzzle as she muttered under her breath. The Drakkaren, meanwhile, headed over to pick up his shirt as the fencing blocking the street vanished, and then he winced when he turned around and Sephire slapped him lightly across the face, saying moodily: "You deserved that."

Zerrex glared at her as she clutched her helmet against her stomach, her face completely uncovered now, cables and tubing dangling from the back of the helm... and then he grabbed her and firmly kneed her in the crotch, and she grunted in pain before he retorted: "And you deserved that."

She grabbed at her injured groin, and then the two glared at each other... before laughing and warmly embracing to the shock of the still-gawking onlookers, Sephire kissing either side of his face firmly. "You must have been tired, I expected you to put up a better fight than you did."

"Says you." Zerrex smiled a bit as they walked towards the patio, and Sephire grabbed at his hand childishly, the reptile pulling his fingers away, but she seized his arm and then forcefully took his hand in one of her own, making him grumble as they walked towards the table, where the wolves were gaping and Mary was looking shocked. "You're scaring everyone. And you're going to start gossip again."

"Like I care. I don't get it, Lord gets all mad at me when I beat the snot out of people but he doesn't give a fuck that I'm a whore. Fuck. He's such a tool sometimes." Sephire muttered, and when Zerrex sat down, she immediately flopped into his lap, the reptile grunting as the armored female leaned against him, still holding his hand and smiling cheerfully over at the wolves and Mary. "So I don't think we've met. What the hell are some whiny little demons doing in Heaven, anyway?"

"Ignore her, she's like another Cherry." Zerrex mumbled from behind the goddess, and then he wheezed when she elbowed him, the reptile only glad his scales were still steel as the spike on the end of her elbow-cup sparked against his chest. "Bitch."

"Freak." Sephire grumbled a bit, and then she hopped out of his lap as she absently tossed her helm away, and it broke apart into gray, square motes before vanishing entirely before it hit the ground, the female leaning against the table and saying thoughtfully: "Wait, wait, I know you, black-eyes. You're one of his Disciples... which means you two probably are too."

Zerrex rolled his eyes, flexing his body a bit as his scales returned to normal and slid smoothly back into place over his metallic arm, and then he slipped his shirt back on as the wolves merely continued to stare and Mary barely managed a smile, saying finally: "You're... you're not what I expected, Lady Sephire."

"I ain't no fucking lady." Sephire replied moodily, looking up towards the sky, and then she looked across at Zerrex, rubbing at the scarred side of her face as she muttered: "You should make me a Disciple too, though, so I can get in and out of Heaven like black-eyes, there. I would bend over for you all day long to be the hell out of here."

"You'd bend over for anyone all day long." Zerrex replied flatly, and Sephire glared at him grouchily before the reptile grinned and added, as leaned on the table: "Not that I can blame you, since I hear you get very little from Lord."

"Oh, don't even start!" Sephire flailed her arms a bit, and again, Zerrex was reminded of Cherry before she sighed moodily, adding bleakly: "Dude, seriously, I've been under quarantine here for several millennia now while they wait to see if I'm going to go completely insane after all the screwing those nutjobs did with my mind. Lord ain't no help in convincing the council I'm not going to 'go down and join the demons in Hell and wage another great and terrible war upon the gates of Heaven high' and ever since I called Lucifer a stupid cunt he doesn't like me. Actually, I don't think he ever liked me but. You know."

Zerrex rolled his eyes, and then Mahihko asked hesitantly: "What happened to you? Did they hurt you?"

Sephire glanced over at the little wolf for a moment, and then she smiled a little, reaching up and touching her glass eye gently. "Let me put it this way, kid. When someone tells you they're going to make you better, always make sure to read the fine print and that they actually want to make you better. Oh, right. Zerrex?"

The Drakkaren glanced at her curiously, and Sephire flicked her wrist absently before the lizard's eyes bulged and he gargled in pain, grasping at his chest as her massive sword formed buried halfway through his chest, blood exploding from the horrible through-and-through wound as both wolves squealed and clung to each other and Zerrex wheezed in pain, blood dripping from the wound as his eyes bulged with pain and Sephire said mildly: "I win."

"Bitch!" Zerrex rasped, and Sephire rolled her eyes before she grasped the handle of the sword, the reptile holding his hands up with a wince. "No, wait-"

She tore the sword free from his body, Zerrex slumping back in the chair with a long groan of agony as he threw his head back, blood bursting down his body... and then he gritted his teeth and grasped at his chest as the wound slowly and visibly healed, Mary looking sick to her stomach and Lone fainting dead off his chair as Mahihko whimpered loudly and covered his muzzle. Then the lizard grimaced and simply shook his head, however, rubbing at his chest slowly as Sephire grinned at him widely as she replaced the sword on her back... before the lizard stood up and punched her hard in the face, knocking her flat on her back as he rubbed at his torn shirt and snapped: "The fight was over!"

"Oh fuck you, you sore loser." Sephire hopped easily back to her feet, glaring down at him imposingly, but the reptile glared back before she laughed and reached up to grab his shoulders, grinning widely. "Hey, what's a disembowelment between friends?"

Zerrex sighed and rolled his eyes, smiling despite himself after a moment: in their case, it was true, after all. They were gods, and while it hurt like all hell, having a very large piece of metal stabbed through him was about as dangerous for him as a mortal getting a thin needle shoved though some outer extremity of their body: while it hurt like hell, it was far, far from lethal. "At least you had the courtesy to disenchant it."

"Yeah, exactly. No blessing or hex on the blade, just a good old stabbing. I bet I could still kill you if I cut you enough with it, though." Sephire half-lidded her eyes, and the reptile rolled his own even as she wrapped an arm around his shoulders, before she glanced over at Mary as the angel sighed in relief. "Hey, black-eyes, you don't think I would have actually hurt this bastard here, do you?"

"You hurt me a lot, Sephire. But yes, you don't have to worry about her maiming or killing me." Zerrex said dryly, and Sephire nodded a few times before she glanced up with a grimace as a trumpet sounded, and the reptile looked at her curiously: "Military call or council meeting?"

"Neither, fucking political assembly. I need to go stand by Lord and look as pretty as I can." Sephire mumbled, and then she sighed before leaning down and kissing the Drakkaren quietly, and the reptile kissed her back for a few moments, their tongues twining, hers exploring his jaws as his rolled along her steel teeth.

They drew apart after a moment, Mahihko now looking stupidly at the two as they grasped each other's biceps and gazed at each other fondly, the female saying firmly: "Now listen. You don't forget about me, got that? Yeah, yeah, I know, it's real awkward to hang out with me when you're kissy-kissy with my son, and everyone's scared of doing shit with me because Lord is an Archangel. But I need some relaxation every now and then, hear me? And me and you, we get each other, especially these days."

She smiled a little, and Zerrex smiled back a bit, nodding despite himself after a moment before they hugged tightly again. Then the female winked as she stepped back and stroked the scarred side of the reptile's face, saying softly: "Get your ass out of here, now, little godling, and take those little demons and that black-eyes with you. You ain't wanted here by Heaven." She looked at him tenderly, reaching up to squeeze his shoulders silently. "And I hope that never changes."

Zerrex smiled at her warmly, and she smiled back before grinning a bit lightning sparked along her body before she simply vanished from sight as reality trembled around her, and the two wolves stared before Lone asked stupidly as he slowly crawled up from the ground: "What the fuck was that?"

"That. Was Sephire." Zerrex replied mildly, smiled a bit in return to the wolf, asking teasingly: "Was she too much female for the macho stud wolf to handle?"

"Oh you can go fuck yourself in the eye." Lone mumbled embarrassedly, turning scarlet before he snatched up his coffee and guzzled it quickly, and Zerrex rolled his eyes as he picked up his own cappuccino, sipping at it and smiling a little at how it was still warm. Around them, angels were milling quietly, a few still giving them curious looks... and the Drakkaren glanced down at himself as he thought this was probably because his clothes were torn and he was covered in blood, rather than anything else.

Before he could say anything, however, Mary held a hand towards him, murmuring a pair of spells, and the blood vanished as his clothes knit themselves back together, the reptile looking up at her with a bit of a smile as she said softly: "I have to admit, I've heard legends about the First Lady but I never suspected any of them were true... and you never talk about her, Zerrex, but you two seem close."

"It's... awkward. Raze... well..." Zerrex hesitated, then he shook his head a bit as the wolves looked at him curiously and Mary smiled softly. "No, no, it's not like that; he gets along with Sephire better than he does with Lord. But Sephire is... similar to Cherry in a lot of respects. Not a total surprise... apparently Carmen and Sephire have some kind of distant relation, but it's made complicated by the fact that Sephire is a goddess and Carmen's a descendant of one of the first demons.

"Raze also gets... a little... jealous, I guess is the word for it, when I spend time with Sephire. Especially... personal time. He finds the subject extremely awkward, too." Zerrex cleared his throat, adding after a moment: "I honestly kind of do too. Made double by the fact she's married, made triple by the fact that her husband is an Archangel. I'm always concerned Lord's going to get jealous and going to mess me up."

Mary shook her head with a smile, then she asked curiously: "So how did you meet, if you don't mind talking about it?"

"She beat the living crap out of me." Zerrex said blandly, and Lone snorted into his coffee as Mahihko looked up attentively, his panic forgotten now as things around them settled into a more normal atmosphere, the lizard relaxing a bit as he smiled at the memories. "It was years ago now, not long after I came back. I was in Heaven doing diplomacy for..." He stopped for a moment, then shook his head a bit. "I was helping Firenze. And I was supposed to meet with Lord and Lucifer, but instead, there was..."

He grinned a bit, laughing as he leaned back in the chair, the trio looking at him curiously. "There was this absolute bitch waiting for me in the meeting hall. Her sword on her back, full armor, that goddamn mask on her face. I thought at first she was a Metatron or something... or some other high-standing angel. She got me real frustrated, real fast, and she kept trying to provoke me into a fight... so finally, I told her if she wanted a fight so bad, I'd give it to her.

"I had no idea she could manipulate metal so... she really laid into me. Pummeled me with daggers imbued with holy energy, hammered me with that sword of hers, cut me up pretty goddamn bad." Yet Zerrex looked up with fondness, remembering the fight: bleeding heavily, yet smashing back into her again and again with as much force as he could, ripping through her armor, half of her mask a shattered wreck against her face and revealing that crimson glass eye and her metal, grinning teeth, blood running down her features... "And then, all of a sudden, as we're both panting and beaten up, she looks at me and asks if I want to have sex with her. I thought she was joking, so I retorted I'd be glad as soon as she ripped her armor off... so, probably just to call my bluff, she drops her sword, grabs her damaged armor, and literally rips the front of it off, leaving me gaping at her naked boobs before she tears her mask off and asks me what the hell's taking so long.

"So uh. We have sex." Zerrex cleared his throat awkwardly, and Mary rolled her eyes in amusement as the wolves giggled stupidly. "And of course, Raze and Lord walk in on us. At first I'm freaking out because, you know. Here I am, we're both covered in blood, and I'm banging her on the meeting table. She's on her back, and she looks at them, and Raze is gaping and Lord has his eyes covered, and she goes, like nothing is wrong: 'Oh, hi guys, I'll be done in just a second.' And I look at her, and she cheerfully informs me that's her husband and son. Which of course makes me freak out and I pull back in a hurry and I'm trying to cover myself, and she tackles me and says we're not done yet and well. Raze and Lord ran away and left me to her mercy."

The reptile rubbed at his face slowly, smiling a bit. "She had been gunning for me, turns out. Raze had talked about me and... she wanted to test me. Make sure that I was good enough for her son... and well. I dunno." He glanced down a bit, rubbing at the back of his head as he murmured: "We clicked, because we're similar in a lot of ways. We both have... this darkness to us, among other things. And as you may have noticed, she doesn't exactly like Heaven that much. She's a little bit of a bloodthirsty bitch, and the Council... the Council is real hard on her, despite the fact they're responsible for... the state she's in right now."

The wolves nodded slowly at this as Mary smiled a bit, saying quietly: "She seems so different from Lord..."

"And she is. But opposites attract sometimes." Zerrex shrugged a bit, laughing quietly. "The story is something like a legend around Heaven... Raze told me it one day, I don't even know why he brought it up, but he can be a real mystery at times."

The others were looking at him, but the Drakkaren only shook his head, replying mildly: "That's something for another time." He stood, drinking the last of his cappuccino before he grabbed a donut from the as-yet-untouched box, and he took a bite of the pastry as he jerked his head to the wolves. "Come on. I don't want to risk another patrol deciding to poke at us because we set their purity senses off."

"Okay Daddy. Jeannine should hopefully be ready by now, anyway." Mahihko said brightly, leaping to his feet and seeming to immediately forget about what just happened. He walked up to Zerrex, holding his hands up, and the reptile laughed a bit before he gently picked the wolf up and hefted him onto one shoulder, the lupine giggling brightly and beaming with happiness as Lone shook his head, then smiled in surprise when Mary gently took the larger wolf's hand.

"Come on, we won't leave you out." Mary said kindly, and she put her uneaten muffin into the box with the donuts before picking this up as well, and Lone blushed deeply as he allowed her to pull him along, gazing at her warmly as the group of four walked out to the street and Mary and Lone took the lead, Zerrex smiling softly at the backs of the two as Mahihko quietly clung to the lizard's hair.

They walked on in mostly quiet, passing enormous ivory buildings and angels that looked at them curiously as they walked by, the day darkening as the sun began to descend in the distance. It was pleasant, though, and the reptile smiled a bit as he ate most of his donut before giving the last of it to Mahihko, who greedily shoved it into his muzzle and chewed contentedly as the reptile shook his head with entertainment, still balancing the tiny wolf on his shoulder as he kicked his large paws and made his dress flutter around his legs.

Then Lone pointed at a fence up ahead, saying excitedly: "Look, there it is! Oh holy shit, this is a nice place..." He whistled a bit, and Zerrex stared as he had to agree, especially considering what it must have cost to build.

The wrought-iron, tall fencing extended out of the walls of the buildings on either side, neatly enclosing a pretty, spacious green lawn that was decorated with a pretty fountain, statues of female wolves clothed in modest togas standing in this emptying eternally-pouring jugs of water over their shoulders, their heads bowed as if in prayer or supplication as they stood in the center of the pool. A pair of enormous gates stood open, either side embossed with a crest that Zerrex guessed was the symbol of Jeannine's successful trading business, and a curving white-stone path led from the gates to the ranch-style home: it looked like it was built on a single floor, but it was wide and large, almost touching the walls of the towering ivory structures on either side of it. Like most of the other buildings they had seen, it was made of white and golden stone... and in front of the house, someone was humming away, working on some kind of machinery.

Mahihko slipped off the lizard's shoulder and immediately bounced through the gates as Lone took off as well, both running excitedly down the path like children as Zerrex sighed and shook his head, exchanging looks with Mary and only hoping the two didn't come across too overeager. Jeannine, at least, was nowhere in sight... but the two made a beeline for the other figure instead, who stood up as they approached, wiping absently at her face.

Zerrex walked down the path, rubbing at the back of his head as he looked curiously at the female figure as she regarded the wolves, then turned her head to gaze at the Drakkaren and Mary, smiling slightly. He realized after a moment of regarding her red scales, strong build, and tall twelve feet of height she was a rare former Clone Soldier: and it was rarer still to see a Dragokkaren up in Heaven when many of their beliefs revolved around Hell being a place of purification and true paradise.

She crossed her arms over her chest and bowed deeply to him as he approached, and the reptile felt his surprise only grow deeper at this, as she said warmly: "Hello, Lord Zerrex Narrius. Jeannine has told me a lot about you, and her brothers. My name's Breeze."

He met her green eyes, and she smiled again even as his gaze traveled with interest along her body; she was dressed in a gray jumpsuit that was splattered with paint and grease stains and was missing its sleeves, revealing the black chains tattooed around one strong bicep. Her body was toned and attractive, and fingerless gloves protected her palms as she tossed a wrench to the side, looking at the wolves and pointing towards the house as she said kindly: "Jeannine's inside. You boys can go wait in the main hall, I think she's almost ready."

They both nodded to her, Lone gazing past her for a moment at the huge, square generator on top of a rolling platform the female had been working on, nuts, bolts, and heavy lengths of wire and oil laying in a messy pile with several heavy tools, and then Mahihko took his larger counterpart's hand and pulled him towards the stairs as Breeze smiled at their backs, then turned her attention to Mary and Zerrex, looking at the feline for a moment before she said kindly: "I guess you must be the lady Jeannine was talkin' about. Mary, right?"

"That's right. It's nice to meet you." Mary nodded to her with a bit of a smile, and Jeannine's light beryl eyes twinkled as she drew her eyes along the cat's body, then reached up and absently began to play with a silver chain hanging around her neck, from which hung a silver shield embossed with the symbol of the Unity religion. "Are you Jeannine's..."

She broke off, hesitating as her eyes settled on the necklace, and Breeze smiled after a moment. "Girlfriend? Yeah. I know, I know, it's weird... but I'm also a Dragokkaren who found paradise in Heaven and is a pretty firm believer in Neo-Unity, and that God will one day come back to Heaven." She smiled warmly, then glanced at Zerrex and winked. "No offense meant, Lord Zerrex Narrius. I understand, after all, that we're gonna be visiting the so-called birthplace of the Drakkai."

"So you believe God created the Dragokkaren, not a Goddess in the Cradle of Life?" Zerrex asked curiously, unable to help himself. Breeze only smiled wider, however, and Zerrex cocked his head, asking mildly: "Something funny?"

"Well, I understand that you're a god yourself, Lord Zerrex, and you're revered as such in several New Hez'Rannan texts..." She bowed deeply to him again, even as the reptile only blushed and rubbed at his face slowly. "And I understand that other gods across the universe exist and... have existed for a long time. That this Heaven was once ruled by a God, too... but I believe Unity is correct in saying that 'all gods are false compared to the glory of Him.' Not that I mean to disrespect you or your beliefs, only that while we call you gods... you are not God."

Breeze's tone was civil enough, but the lizard had a sense she intensely wanted to defend her faith and try and convert him to her belief structure... which he couldn't help but smile at the irony of, as he said kindly: "That's a very interesting idea, Breeze. And no offense taken; I'm the last person to think I'm worthy of proper-noun status as a god."

She looked disappointed at this answer, continuing to play with her necklace for a few moments before the reptile asked gently, before she could think of a way to draw him into a religious argument: "How did you get into the Unity religion?"

"Oh! I was a Clone Soldier during the Great Hez'Rannan War, as you probably guessed already..." She smiled warmly, gesturing at herself and obviously delighted to talk more at length about her beliefs. "And well, when the war ended, I was in deployment in Ire, so we all ended up just... surrendering to local forces. I was lucky, though... I was taken in by a local church, and Irenic soldiers never figured out I wasn't born local because female clone troopers are rare, and I worked as a mechanic anyway." She smiled wider again. "People always forget you need mechanics to win a war, not just troops.

"Anyway. I put my skills to use in the local shop and did jobs for the church and the congregation, earned my keep, made some good money. I became very involved with the community and... the religion sort of drew me in. It made me feel comfortable, even though something always felt... a little off." She nodded slowly, rubbing at the underside of her muzzle. "Of course, that was because in the old texts, homosexuality was a sin. Back then, I couldn't even consider the idea of being a lesbian... it seemed blasphemous and traitorous to me, and to be honest, even though I felt bad, I was also... I was scared of them, so I was really nasty towards the gays and lesbians in the congregation. I didn't understand back then there wasn't anything wrong with it.

"The pastor took me aside a few times, tried to explain to me that a lot of the stuff in the Unity Bible is interpretation, and that a lot of it had been rewritten over the years. He urged me to look at some of the other versions, but my bible was my bible." She laughed a little. "But then the Demon War came. And even though I know it was an awful, terrible time, that was also what helped make the scales fall from my eyes.

"I was working in the military again, for Ire this time... you know, fixin' tanks, fixin' jeeps, fixin' planes. A motor's a motor to me, no matter how big or how small... I guess that must have been what was programmed into me, either by God or the scientists." Breeze shook her head in entertainment. "But one day, angels visited our encampment, telling us they were here to help fight back the demons. I always kept my Bible with me, and it was so incredible to see them that I couldn't help but bring it out, to ask them questions and shit... but... they just told me that all the Bible was were the words of blasphemers and idolaters. I was so crushed... but one of the angels told me he would give me the true testament of God, if I was willing to keep an open mind.

"Of course I was so eager that I said yes immediately... and he left, and came back a few days later with a brand new Bible I have to this day. It was written by the angels, and it was one of the first Neo-Unity Bibles to exist: I feel so blessed to this day to have been among the first converted, who got to read the words of angels instead of the words of hateful mortals only trying to compel people to follow their own creed and example. To this day, it's helped me live my life peacefully and fully."

She laughed as she finally dropped her hands away from the necklace, gazing warmly at Zerrex. "It seems a silly question to ask, but have you ever had a truly spiritual moment in your life, Lord Zerrex Narrius? Don't gods ever look up towards the One who created them, and long to reach His embrace?"

"Gods long for a god more than you can ever know, Breeze." Zerrex replied gently, and then he glanced up towards the darkening sky, adding softly: "But maybe we spend too long looking outwards when we should just be looking inside ourselves."

Breeze smiled at this, however, replying easily: "Introversion leads to self-focus and egoism, though... and it was the introverted desires of wicked mortals that made the Unity Bible in the first place and filled the world with hate instead of love and worship of the One True God. We should always look up and outwards to God above, and focus on Him above all else in our lives."

Zerrex glanced at Mary, who winced a little bit... but both were saved the trouble of responding when Lone and Mahihko both emerged lugging suitcases, followed by a white, female wolf in dress pants and a silk shirt, her arms crossed and a grimace on her face as she hugged her jacket close to her body. A beret rested on her skull as she carefully walked down the stairs as the two male wolves huffed and carried the large cases down the stairs, and then her dark grey eyes settled on Zerrex, the slender, white-furred female approaching and thrusting a hand towards him as she said in a businesslike voice: "Zerrex Narrius, my name is Jeannine Teasdale. If I remember correctly we met very briefly in life, when I was Jeannine Wulfe. I'd like to thank you for the privilege of sanctuary in... Acheron, is it?"

"That's correct, Jeannine." Zerrex took her hand gently, smiling awkwardly down at her even as she continued to half-glare at him suspiciously. Then he looked over at the wolves, who were both resting with the heavy suitcases, Mahihko looking a little winded. "Is everyone ready to go?"

"Breeze? Oh, Breeze!" Jeannine gave the Dragokkaren an exasperated look, and the female blushed a bit as she rubbed her hands compulsively against her jumpsuit. "Please go change, honey, we're going on a long trip here. Lone, will you please go bring her stuff downstairs?"

Lone mumbled disconsolately, but he nodded as Breeze headed sheepishly for the doors, following the female Dragokkaren as Mahihko toddled behind the larger wolf. Jeannine watched them go, and then she frowned deeply, looking over towards Mary and saying quietly: "I don't like this. I don't like this at all. I don't need this kind of protection."

"Then why did you agree, Jeannine?" Mary asked gently, and now Jeannine only looked flustered as she glanced away, before Mary smiled a little bit. "See? We'll protect you, though... or at least, Zerrex will, and your brothers-"

"Brother, I have one brother, I don't care if he can split himself into a baker's dozen." Jeannine interrupted rudely, but she rubbed her hands together compulsively as she looked back and forth before cursing under her breath. "Where the hell are you, Breeze... come on, come on, I don't want to be here..."

Zerrex looked at her for a few moments, frowning a bit, and she glared back at him before she turned scarlet as the reptile said dryly: "She's your bodyguard, not your girlfriend."

"I'd rather not have my brothers know that!" Jeannine hissed, wincing towards the door, and Zerrex grinned cheerfully down at her. Immediately, the female snarled at him, spitting: "If you think for one second you can blackmail me-"

The Drakkaren, however, reached out and tapped her forehead, and she looked furiously at him even as he said mildly: "I can read your emotions, Jeannine. You aren't worried about me blackmailing you, you trust Breeze but don't love her as anything more than a friend, and you aren't even worried about your brothers doing anything to you. But something is scaring you."

"Brother, I... I meant, brother..." she mumbled, looking down and rubbing at her face slowly, and then she sighed a bit, looking up and saying finally: "Okay, I... okay, listen, since Breeze takes twenty fucking minutes to get fucking ready."

"You have a dirtier mouth than Lone." Zerrex remarked mildly, and Jeannine snarled before punching him hard in the kidney, and the reptile's eyes bulged at the surprising show of frustration as he grabbed at his side, Mary wincing away a bit. "You punch harder too."

"Listen!" she snapped, and Zerrex looked at her moodily as he reflected how all the females in his life either slept with him or beat him. "I... I forgave my brothers... brother... a long time ago for what happened. I did, but... I never wanted to admit it, it felt... my pride wouldn't let me." She glanced away embarrassedly, then softened visibly as she continued in a quieter voice: "My... I was able to keep track of him, though, from a distance. I always... watched out for them, sort of. I have access to record keeping facilities and... was able to always hire someone, somewhere to... look out for him. To dig up information on his treatment, on... Mahihko... on his life. He's... my brother. He did awful things to me in the past, to a lot of females, to a lot of people, but he's my brother. And I love him and I'm proud of him, especially now that he's... changed. Become a better person.

"But researching him... with the time he spent around you, it meant researching you." She looked at him evenly, and something clicked in the Drakkaren's mind as he nodded slowly, understanding even before she said quietly: "When Lone and Mahihko told me what was going on... I realized that it must look like I've been... interested in you."

"And you think this murderer, whoever the hell it is, might go after you, because it looks like you're someone important to me... and if not, you're close to someone who is." Zerrex said quietly, gesturing at her, and she nodded quietly before the reptile tilted his head and narrowed his eyes slightly. "You saw something."

"I saw someone." She glanced towards the mansion, shaking her head a bit before she shivered and hugged herself, saying quietly: "About... two weeks back. I think it was because I ran into this... Mr. Pettigrew at the library. He didn't know who I was at first, but after I told him and said I wanted to know about how Lone was doing, he brightened a bit. He was a very kind male and admittedly his words are part of the reason I agreed at all to meet Lone and Mahihko. He was very... forwards about how he first came to know my brother but he had nothing but good words for the current incarnation of my brothers. Brother, fuck."

She shook her head vehemently, and Zerrex smiled a bit, saying quietly: "Tinman. He's always been a generous person... but yeah, any time he's down in Hell, he makes time to hang out with Vampire and with Lone and Mahihko."

Jeannine nodded back, adjusting her beret with a sigh. "After I finished talking to him and making some notes in a personal journal - and, of course made him promise to stay silent on the subject - I went home. I felt... I felt watched the entire way back here. I remember almost running through the gates, and I thought I felt... something touch me."

She shivered hard, grasping the back of her skull, and the reptile felt her emotions clearly, almost saw it in her memories as she said softly: "Breeze came running out, and when I looked over my shoulder, I only saw..."

She broke off, looking down, and Zerrex reached out and gently touched her forehead, the female not lashing out at him this time as the reptile concentrated... and a flicker of her memories passed into his mind, the lizard gritting his teeth as the image lingered in his mind: what looked almost like a terrible, ugly swarm, broken and distorted, vanishing down the darkened streets. "What the hell..."

"It's no demon or angel... and it..." She shivered a bit, and Zerrex nodded slowly before he strode past her and out towards the gates. Jeannine and Mary watched him from in front of the mansion, and the Drakkaren looked back and forth before he turned around, closing his eyes and focusing...

He opened them... and gritted his teeth, wincing in shock and immediately covering his eyes. Mary and Jeannine both stared at him, the feline starting forwards but Jeannine whimpering and clinging to her arm, and Zerrex rose a hand to them both after a moment as he slowly uncovered his eyes. He could see Enochian runes written in blood, his name, splattered on the ground in front of the gates... but more blood was splattered all over the bars and fencing, and a horrible, jagged warning had been written along the sidewalk in front of the mansion, mostly obscenities coupled with death threats.

The reptile shook his head slowly, then he reached forwards and absently touched the fencing... and he realized it was blessed iron, holy runes humming over the length when his fingers slid over it. "So whatever did do this... couldn't get past the fencing. Maybe that's even why it stepped up its game..."

He shook his head slowly, walking back into manse grounds as Jeannine looked up at him pleadingly, and he smiled reassuringly at her despite how disturbed he felt, reaching out to squeeze her shoulder as he said quietly: "Don't worry. We're leaving for a safe place."

"But why are you helping me? Nothing comes free in this universe... if there's one thing being in Heaven taught me, it's that." Jeannine frowned a bit at him, her emotions confused and convoluted, and the reptile only laughed a bit and shook his head slowly in return. "What's so funny?"

"I'm helping you, Jeannine, because the wolves care about you. You're their sister... his sister, if you want to continue to pretend there's only Lone, and that's it, despite the fact there's very obviously two different males there now." Zerrex glanced up towards the doors, and then he added quietly: "And I'm not going to lie to you. Acheron probably won't be the most comfortable place in the universe for you... but I think it'll still be better than trying to live in a mansion that's been marked as a hunting ground."

The wolf shivered a bit at this, looking down before she nodded, and silence spun out between the three before she looked up and said abruptly: "Lone isn't his real name. It's just a nickname. Yeah, he had it changed on all the records, and my... father, Tobias, and Mom always called him Lone, too, but..." She looked bitterly at the ground. "Even when he was only five, he always got whatever the fuck he wanted. So they changed his birth certificates and his name and everything, but I never forgot Lone was born Eugene Wallace Wulfe."

Zerrex stared at her for a moment, then he covered his muzzle to suppress his giggles, Mary trying her hardest not to join in but unable to resist as Jeannine gave a half-bitter, half-rueful grin. "Yeah, well, watch this."

She nodded towards the doors as they opened, Breeze coming out in a simple sundress and Lone puffing along as he followed her, dragging a heavy suitcase with Mahihko in tow, and then Jeannine cupped her muzzle and shouted: "Hey, Ewwy-Wally!"

Lone looked up at her with a yelp of shock, dropping the suitcase as he reached up to seize both ears as Mahihko whimpered and ducked his head, and then both wolves squeaked as the suitcase slammed down on top of Lone's paw, the larger lupine flailing his arms before he toppled head-over-heels down the short set of stairs leading up to the manse's doors, suitcase flying open and clothes and books and other objects scattering in all directions as he rolled down the steps with it and crashed on his face, before the suitcase landed heavily on him. Mahihko immediately bolted down the steps after the larger wolf and Breeze turned scarlet and quickly began to gather up her things, shouting angrily at the lupines in Hez'Rannan the whole while.

Jeannine crossed her arms with distaste as Zerrex laughed loudly, then she looked over at the lizard and said moodily: "Just like old times. Assholes made me miserable day in and day out, but I always kept a few secrets, just to keep them from coming after me. Come on, dumb shit, move your ass, we need to get to a portal and jump to the mortal world before night falls."

Lone only mumbled from the ground even as Mahihko tried to help pick up Breeze's things, but the female immediately tore her clothes out of the little wolf's arms and glowered at him, making the little wolf sniffle as he lowered his ears and instead silently went over to help Lone to his feet. The larger wolf brushed himself off slowly as Breeze stuffed her things back in her suitcase and kicked it closed, still muttering away as her faded, ugly yellow dress ruffled around her body, and then the larger wolf looked up at Jeannine and said in a surly voice: "It's been Lone for millions of years now, Jeannine. Lone and Mahihko."

"Shut up, Eugene, and get my things." Jeannine ordered, pointing at her suitcase, and Lone glowered at her but then walked over to do so, as Mahihko rubbed at his eyes, but then grabbed her other suitcase as well. Zerrex looked over the group, feeling the distinct hostility and tenseness, but also an undercurrent of... something like sadness, and he smiled a bit before the female wolf glanced at him and said curtly: "We should go. Leaving Heaven is going to be difficult, and if I don't leave by my pre-arranged route, they'll get suspicious. I'm not putting my merchant license at risk with a vortex."

"Fine, fine." Zerrex rolled his eyes, holding up his hands and not feeling like being punched again as he glanced over at Mary. But when she only smiled at him encouragingly, he knew she wasn't going to listen to anything he was going to say... so he only nodded with a grunt to her. "Let's all go, then."

It took them five hours to get to Acheron, most of that spent waiting in lines and in chairs in Heaven as Breeze pretended to be a lesbian and Jeannine did a really bad, unconvincing job of treating Breeze like her girlfriend. The male wolves, however, were moody and tired, doing their best to ignore their sister as they sat side-by-side and Mahihko rubbed at his nose on occasion, pouty and upset.

They took a vortex to the mortal planet, and angels checked them over at this 'checkpoint' before sending them on their way, and Zerrex had shooped them all to Hez'Ranna immediately. Jeannine had almost thrown up, but Breeze had been dumbstruck, looking around at the beauty of the jungle and likely feeling that same vibration all Dragokkaren did when they entered the Cradle of Life after so long being away from it, no matter what their belief system was.

He had led them into Acheron through the nearest body of water, although Jeannine had complained the entire time she didn't want her things getting wet, and the reptile had finally simply grabbed her, thrown her over his shoulder, and then dived through the water. When he'd come out the other side and tossed her down on the ground, she had promptly stood and kicked him hard in the crotch, making the lizard wince... then grin challengingly and put his hands on his hips, glaring at her until she'd finally mumbled an awkward apology.

From there on, things had evened out a little, though: Lone and Mahihko perked up and bounced off to take Jeannine to find a vacant room in the residential quarters for her, and Mary had taken off to find out if Anathema Sin and the others were here yet and preparing for the ceremony. It left him alone with Breeze, the two standing side-by-side as they gazed out over the huge central square together before the reptile said mildly: "Counter-espionage?"

She glanced at him, then smiled slightly as if unsurprised, returning her eyes to the statue as she replied quietly: "I was a party-crasher, actually. You know, sabotaging enemy installations, planting bombs, blowing things up. I don't like to think about those days anymore, though..."

"Although really, you've just taken the job a step further, haven't you? I'm willing to bet you've got either a tattoo or a charm burned into your body somewhere that prevents me from reading your mind or emotions. Highly-illegal." Zerrex looked at her thoughtfully, but she only looked back evenly, slowly cracking her knuckles. "You and Jeannine are going to have to be honest with me, Breeze."

"I'm just doing my job, Zerrex Narrius, and protecting my employer. I'm loyal; you understand loyalty, don't you?" Breeze tilted her head towards him with a dry smile, and then she glanced out towards the square again, adding quietly: "Besides, we have been honest about everything you haven't figured out. I guessed you already milked Jeannine for information from how distracted she was, she probably even told you about that... thing... she claims to have seen. And you seemed anxious to get her away from Heaven, so I guess you believe her, too, or you saw something yourself that matched up with her description and her feelings. So I might not be into her, but I still care about her like a sister, and like I said, I'm loyal to her, too. I'm gonna do the best goddamn job I can to protect her, whatever that takes. The only commander above her to me is God Himself, and that means if I have to, I'll fight you tooth-and-claw, too."

"So you really are a firm Neo-Unity believer, huh?" Zerrex looked at her with interest, and the female nodded firmly: the conviction in her eyes was more than enough to tell the reptile it was the truth. "Well, it'll be interesting to see what you think of this place, then. Make yourself comfortable, Breeze. I'll check on you and Jeannine the moment I get the time. This place should be safe, though... we keep a very close eye on the goings-on around here."

"I'll trust what earns my trust. The only absolute is my faith in Him." Breeze responded firmly, and Zerrex looked at her ponderingly for a moment, and she frowned a bit as she looked back. "What?"

"Yellow really isn't your color. You should probably change." the reptile said mildly, and Breeze favored him with a sour look even as she blushed a bit and rubbed at her sundress slowly, the Drakkaren smiling slightly before he turned and vanished from the spot, concentrating not on any particular location, but instead, a particular presence.

He reappeared a moment later on top of the palace, somehow unsurprised as he looked up at the red sky overhead for a moment... then brought his gaze down to see that Earth had already set up a tall platform of solid wood that rested on supports keeping it a meter or so off the ground, perhaps fifty feet square and with a large stone sarcophagus in the center of it. The Drakkaren approached the edge of the platform, grunting as he pulled himself up onto it before he straightened... and smiled awkwardly as faces looked at him with compassion, kindness, and reverence.

Anathema Sin stood at the head of the stone casket, with Earth to one side of her and Epiphany the other. Amiglion and his living scythe, Grim War, stood to the right, the Naganatine dressed in simple clothes with his black, long-handled polearm bobbing silently in the air beside him, long, silvery blade gleaming. Beside him - or the two, depending on how you looked at it - stood a Naganatine who nodded respectfully to Zerrex and bowed slightly, dressed in long, flowing white robes, his features compassionate and gentle. Silven, the only Naganatine of Heaven who still truly followed Naganis's teachings. Next to him, fitting in strangely well with the two Naganatine, stood Celeste... but she had eyes only for the armor, speaking silent words the reptile couldn't follow as the Strange Beast hugged herself around the middle.

On the other side of the casket, Naganen stood, with Daria and Maria on either side of him, and his son smiled faintly over at his father before he returned his eyes with awe to the center of the platform. Zerrex gazed at him for a moment longer, then drew his own eyes back to the casket... and, sitting on top of it, supported by three long ropes that were ready at any point to be released so it could be lowered into the sarcophagus, was the armor, was the remains of Naganis.

And, standing near the foot of the casket, Marina, Cindy and Cherry all looked at him expectantly, quietly, reverence and adoration on even the features of the last not-entirely-female as they all half-bowed and reached their hands towards him, inviting him forwards... and Zerrex breathed softly before he walked towards the foot of the stone casket. The hands of his daughters gently brushed against his arms and his back as he passed, and then stood at the base of it as Anathema Sin stood at the head, both of them leaning forwards at almost the same time to touch the walls of the stone as a dark, black-red substance bubbled silently inside, and the lizard reached a finger down, touching it and stroking through the liquid... and he smiled a bit as he realized what it was. The blood of his Disciples, mixed with liquefied black roses and water blessed with prayers for Naganis... and the lizard closed his eyes before he nodded silently to Anathema Sin.

"Today, we put to rest the last remains of Naganis, Father of the Naganatine, our Creator, our Maker." she said softly, speaking in both the voices of Sin and Anathema, their tones mixing harmoniously with melancholy melody. "He was God... but he only believed that to be God was to be responsible; to be powerful meant to have a duty to protect the weak, not to dominate... and now, as we purify his remains, we give rest to his spirit, and we thank him for what he has done for us... and gently lay him down, for he has well-earned his sleep after all the long years he has spent, working to protect and love us..."

She stopped and lowered her head... and then Celeste closed her eyes before she began to sing... and Zerrex looked up sharply as he felt a lump form in his throat. She sang no words he could recognize, and yet it was like she was voicing pure emotions, making powerful images rise in his mind and soul... and as she sang, Naganen and Epiphany stepped forwards to one side, and Amiglion and Silven the other, silently undoing the ropes... and then gently letting them go, watching as the armor sank slowly into the red-and-black liquid.

Tears rolled down the Drakkaren's muzzle, dripping into the pool, making it ripple as the reptile leaned over it with a tremble at the emotions rolling through his frame... and then, without knowing how he knew to do it, he reached down and silently drew his fingers through the shifting liquid. Bit-by-bit, he traced out the symbol of Prismatic Unity... and where his fingers moved through the liquid, it rippled and did not fill in, the reptile engraving the symbol into the liquid itself as rosy blood and water rippled silently... before the symbol pulsed faint blue as he finished.

The liquid smoothed out, the symbol vanishing... and then the mixture filling the sarcophagus glowed gold and white, radiant and beautiful and yet far from blinding as Celeste continued to sing, and the mouths of the Naganatine moved in silent mimicking of her, as if she had awakened some part of them long-forgotten... and then the glow faded, and the liquid became crystal clear. For a moment, as Zerrex gazed down, he saw not armor, but instead Naganis laying at the bottom of the glassy pool, his arms crossed, his expression peaceful... and then the water rippled, and a moment later, was simply gone, vanishing into motes of blue and white that floated upwards.

Voices murmured as Zerrex felt the energies roll past him, closing his eyes... and when he opened them and gazed down silently at the armor, he saw that it had changed. The hide of scales had become silver and purple instead of the ugly stained black-and-red, and the ivory bones gleamed and resonated strangely as the reptile gazed down at it silently... and then a hand touched his shoulder gently, and the Drakkaren gazed quietly at Marina before she nodded and smiled in reassurance, channeling the emotions of the others towards him even as Celeste began to sing, and Anathema Sin rose her hands and spoke in time with the melody of the Strange Beast: "And as the body is purified, as our Creator passes... so shall he rise anew..."

Zerrex reached down towards the armor... and the lizard's eyes widened in surprise as the armor reached up towards him, mirroring his actions. Yet he did not hesitate as his hand touched the bone gauntlet... and then he gritted his teeth as energy sparked over his form, a rumble filling the air around them before there was a flash, as the lizard felt ripples travelling over his body, felt his mind blank...

And when he opened his eyes, he was standing at the base of the casket, but he could feel the armor clinging to his body like a second skin. It fit perfectly, and when the lizard moved, it moved with him as easily as they were his own scales, an indescribable warmth filling his being as he breathed softly and slowly. Then he flexed his right arm on instinct as he held it up in front of his face, and he watched in amazement as the bone plates automatically separated and peeled away, the armor transforming itself as the scales fell away from his right limb and it took on its beautiful, armored-steel likeness.

The lizard let his right arm return to normal... and without even needing to form a mental request, the bone armor immediately spilled back down his arm, locking back into place as scales covered the metallic limb before he grinned a bit, flexing his fingers slowly as he watched the tiny, complex work of bones quickly reassemble themselves over his hand. It was incredible, it was like an extension of his body, of his soul, even... and Anathema Sin gazed silently at the Drakkaren as he smiled at her, then reached up and slowly removed the facemask, shaking his head out as his white hair floated around his skull, and the reptile said quietly: "And it is with the blessing of Naganis that we sanctify his remains, it is with the knowledge of his love for life and his wish to continue to protect all, that we in worship, and not in lust, nor in longing for his power, that we fortify this armor... granting his spirit rest, while we anchor his memory always in our hearts and souls, blessing this that remains as the shield and the shrine, for him, our friend, our father..."

"And let it always be so." Anathema Sin murmured, and Celeste's voice rang out with one last, long note before she quieted, and a tremble passed through those assembled before the Naganatine closed their eyes and bowed their heads. There was silence for a few long moments, and then Anathema Sin finally looked up, rubbing at her face slowly as Zerrex gazed down silently at the skull helm in his hands, and she asked roughly: "Is it done?"

"Yeah." Zerrex smiled a bit as he flexed his body, and he felt the armor moving with him, glancing down over the full bone plate as he murmured: "It... responds to me. It responds to me before I even know what I'm thinking, in fact, like it's connected to my energies, my instincts... and I know it looks goddamn scary but it feels so... pure, so powerful..."

"It is a container for a soul, that's all." Celeste said softly, and Zerrex looked at her curiously as the heavy facemask dangled from his hand. Then the Strange Beast stepped forwards, reaching out and gently taking the helm, looking down at it silently for a few long moments... and then she smiled faintly before stepping forwards and quietly fitting it back on the Drakkaren's head, and he felt the mask melding to his features, protecting him completely as she murmured: "Yes. This is the emotion you call love."

Zerrex looked at her curiously, but she fell silent and instead stepped away, seeming to fall into thought as she walked over to sit at the edge of the platform. Then Silven approached and held a hand out, and the Drakkaren smiled a little, beginning to raise his hand... before wincing when the Naganatine impulsively leapt forwards and hugged him instead, mumbling embarrassedly: "Sorry."

Then he cleared his throat and stepped back, the angelic Naganatine smiling warmly as he grasped the reptile's still-extended hand in both his own, squeezing it firmly as he said quietly: "To be honest, at first I was iffy on the subject... but I see now why Lucifer said you should have it. It suits you, it suits you very well, Lord Zerrex... and I think Naganis himself would have wanted this. He... he was always able to look past the physical and the material... he was always able to put what was best for the world before everyone and everything else, especially... especially himself."

Silven fell quiet... and then he smiled at Amiglion when he gently reached up and touched his brother's shoulder, and the two walked away, Grim floating quietly behind the latter male as Naganen and Epiphany approached next. Naganen looked up at his father with a smile, and Epiphany gazed lovingly over the armor before his son said quietly: "We remember the person, we put the soul to rest, but we keep in mind that a body is only a shell. Isn't that right, Dad? And we honor our friends in private... we never force everyone else to worship their loss. We don't make a spectacle of either gods or monsters when they die."

"That's right, son." Zerrex reached up and squeezed Naganen's shoulder gently... and Naganen visibly relaxed, closing his eyes at the contact. Then Zerrex stroked gently under Epiphany's muzzle, and she smiled softly as he asked quietly: "What did you think, daughter?"

"Naganen is right. This feels... pure." Epiphany murmured softly, looking down and nodding slowly, and then she reached up and stroked wonderingly over the armor again, whispering: "Love... that's what love feels like. Physically, I mean."

Zerrex tilted his head curiously at this, but she only smiled before gently taking her brother's hand and leading him onwards, and Naganen blushed but left with her willingly. Then the Drakkaren gazed up silently as Anathema Sin approached, and he hugged her tightly against his chest as she pushed herself against him, murmuring: "I think this only proves all the more how it's not what's outside that matters, but what exists inside of something. Just like you taught me... just as you taught us."

She gazed up at him quietly, and Zerrex traded a gentle kiss with her for a few long moments before they parted, and the reptile smiled a bit as he took her face lightly between his hands... and as his finger settled on her features, the bone gauntlets quickly peeled themselves away, letting his bare fingers graze quietly along her ivory mask. "You didn't include all the Disciples this time."

"Let them be jealous." Anathema Sin scoffed, and the reptile laughed a bit, shaking his head before she grinned and reached up, flicking the Drakkaren's bone helm firmly up, and the reptile was surprised when the helmet snapped upwards to reveal his face but then locked itself into position, half-raised off his head. "You should be able to control this armor much better than that, Zerrex, if it responds so well to you. Try and take it off."

The reptile automatically reached a hand towards himself, and Anathema Sin sighed and hammered against his chest, making him wince a bit: more in surprise than anything else, however, particularly at the fact he barely felt the impact of each blow through the solid armor. "You know that's not what I meant. Concentrate. It seems to move the same way I was able to whenever I connected myself to you... I miss those days..."

Anathema Sin glanced away, looking longing... but then, when she gazed back, her tone and soft eyes told him that the Sin part of her personality had taken over, meaning the Anathema half of the fused Naganatine had likely gotten herself lost in memories. "It shouldn't prove overly difficult, Lord Zerrex... it may seem that way, certainly, but if anyone is capable of making this armor move to the command of their mind, it is you yourself. Your energies and the energies of Naganis coexist inside of you... simply will it to move, and it shall move, as easily as you move a limb."

Zerrex nodded a bit to her, wondering if he really could just order the armor to do whatever he wanted... and then he took a slow breath before concentrating, not knowing what the armor would do, if he should ask it politely or order it roughly to get off him... and a moment later, the bones along his body sparked with energy as the reptile felt his arms raise slightly at his sides, feeling the bone plates loosening, withdrawing as he closed his eyes, scale-leather quietly scraping almost lovingly along his own scales and clothes as it drew up towards his neck... then flowed gently, steadily backwards over the silver-and-purple scale-leather cape behind him, the reptile looking over his shoulder in surprise as bone plates lined along this and even the helm all-but-melted downwards, flattening and folding itself until it became nothing more than an embossed skull on the back of the scale cape.

Energy crackled over the long cape, secured around the reptile's throat by a simple circular clasp... and Anathema Sin smiled faintly as she reached up, touching this quietly: it was engraved with the symbol of Prismatic Unity, and she whispered: "I had almost forgotten about this... the true symbol of Heaven, of Naganis's... belief that all things in the universe fit and lock together, that everything exists for a reason, as part of a great balance that can never be broken or undone. Six prisms, each augmenting, supporting, and protected inside each other..."

"Six... same as the number of First Gods." Zerrex murmured softly as he reached down, quietly stroking over the edge of the medallion-shaped clasp, and Anathema Sin laughed a bit in pleased surprise, nodding slowly. The two looked at each other, and then the reptile smiled a bit, saying quietly: "Maybe it's no coincidence."

"There is coincidence. Everything happens for a reason... except when you put the fucking cereal box back in the cupboard after it's finished, right after I've put the empty cookie box back in." Anathema Sin shoved him rudely backwards, and Zerrex laughed as the cape fluttered around him before the Drakkaren shook his head in amusement as he reached up to undo this... but immediately, the fused Naganatine stepped forwards, touching his wrist as the cape ruffled quietly in the breeze. "No. Leave it on... it looks good on you."

Zerrex smiled softly at her, and she smiled back before the lizard nodded and let go of it, rubbing absently at his forearm as he muttered: "Now I just need my armlet, and I'll be ready for any goddamn situation that comes up, huh? Now if only I could get Sephire to teach me that trick she does with Storm King Face, I could summon Blackheart at any time, too."

"Sephire... you never mention her unless you've recently spent some time with her." Anathema Sin tilted her head curiously. "We're curious. Did you have a sparring session with her again?"

Zerrex smiled a little, nodding and saying quietly: "Yeah, kinda. Until Lord interrupted anyway." The reptile glanced down at the wooden platform beneath their feet, then he stomped on it firmly, and it shattered into pieces that floated upwards around them, the sarcophagus lifting into the air as well and hovering ominously before the broken timbers quickly and suddenly spun towards the casket, and they piled themselves neatly inside of it before the casket dropped to the ground below with a heavy thud, a neat pile of short, cut boards standing out of this before the two descended slowly to the ground.

Anathema Sin rolled her eyes at this show of power even as she smiled despite herself, and then she gently grasped either end of the cape around the lizard, marveling at the way the bones had stacked themselves over it and the feeling of the supple scale-leather as she kissed his lips for a chaste moment, and the Drakkaren gazed tenderly down at her. "You should invite her to Acheron at some point. We're sure she'd enjoy it here... and the Council has to allow her out of Heaven sooner or later. We feel... awful about what she's gone through. We know it well ourselves..." She looked down, face clouding over with a mixture of Sin's sorrows and Anathema's anger. "All our brothers in Heaven have done is repeated Mephistopheles' experiments upon us, just with other unfortunate victims who lack the spirit and strength to resist such... terrible manipulations."

"And she wasn't even permitted to fight against Athéos. They keep her caged up inside the Endless Ivory Tower most of the time." Zerrex said softly, nodding slowly. "It's no wonder she's as energetic as she is when she does manage to get out of there... and yet they mock her by calling her a General of Heaven, too."

"Giving her a rank but none of the associated powers." Anathema Sin murmured softly, looking curiously over the Drakkaren. "We're very surprised that Lord Raze didn't introduce you two sooner."

"Yes, but Raze is... awkward... around his family." Zerrex replied carefully, and then he shook his head a bit as he and Anathema Sin turned, before the lizard made a face when he saw Cherry simply standing a few feet away and peering at him. "Have... have you been there the entire time?"

"Yes." Cherry said cheerfully, and then she reached up and poked her fins. "Sephire is the babe with the fins like mine, right? The Mark of the Curse, they call it or some shit?"

"Yes, that." Zerrex said flatly, and Cherry grinned cheerfully and nodded a few times before she bounced towards him and stroked slowly over the cape around the reptile's shoulders, licking her lips slowly at the feel of it and half-lidding her eyes. Immediately, however, the Drakkaren glowered at her, and the cape snapped itself around the reptile before shortening and tightening, showing a surprising ability to control itself as it flipped back over his shoulders to get away from the female's pawing hands. "It doesn't like you."

"Well I don't like it! Fuck it, then!" Cherry huffed and moodily crossed her arms, leaning back a bit before she grumbled at the grin Anathema Sin favored her with. "You... stop that. You're lucky I don't punch you, bitch, just 'cause I don't wanna hurt Sin too."

"You can hurt me any time you like, Cherry." the fused Naganatine said kindly in Sin's voice, then she covered her muzzle as a bit of a blush rose in her cheeks and Cherry gaped at her stupidly as Zerrex snorted laughter. "Fuck, stop that!"

The male Drakkaren rolled his eyes and gently patted the Naganatine on the lower back as she clenched her eyes shut and visibly began to argue with herself mentally, and the reptile sighed a bit before he looked at Cherry, who was still looking for a respond even as a lecherous leer appeared in her eyes. "Come on, let's go. She's going to be busy for a little while mentally fighting with herself. I mean, imagine if you and Cindy were ever stuck in the same body."

"Oh that would be so horribly kinky." Cherry licked her muzzle as she winked at him, rubbing her hands together eagerly. "I would totally masturbate in front of a mirror, for starters, and-"

Zerrex slapped his forehead, then grabbed Cherry by the collar, yanking her towards the palace steps as she giggled stupidly before shaking her head and pulling herself free, turning around to slap the Drakkaren on the shoulder as the cape fluttered quietly behind him and smiling at him softly. "So you doin' okay, Boss? You seem a little... uptight, if I can say so."

The reptile grunted in response, then he sighed and shrugged a little when Cherry slipped a hand beneath the cape to silently rub at his lower back, looking over at her with a bit of a smile. "I guess... I'm just stressed. A murderer, Strange Beasts, I've been entrusted with armor made literally from the body and bones of god, who I... don't even feel worthy enough to stand in the shadow of. But here I am... wearing Naganis like a cape."

Zerrex threw his arms out with distaste, and Cherry laughed a bit as she poked his side gently. "Tell you what, Boss, how about when we all die, we leave instructions for people to make shit out of us, too. Would that make you feel better?"

"A little." the Drakkaren admitted, looking at the female with faint amusement before he shook his head a bit. "So did you have something you wanted to talk to me about?"

Cherry grunted and shrugged a little, saying finally: "No, I just... I just wanted to see how you were." She looked at him lamely as the reptile looked back with surprise, and then she huffed and punched him hard in the arm before squawking and shaking her fist out, the lizard grinning a bit as he flexed his right limb. "Fucking metal-limbed loser. But seriously, I... I worry about you, Boss, we all do. And the story goes that you had a nasty run-in while trying to get this armor and shit on top of everything else, and... shit like that makes me extra-worried about you and shit, you know?"

She looked down quietly as they passed by several Dragon Warriors, the male Drakkaren holding up a hand to them as they bowed before he turned his attention back to the female... but she only reached out and silently took his hand, tugging him quietly into what served as her bedroom while she was here, the blankets on the mattress riddled with crumbs and the sheets scuffed up, the rest of the bedroom covered in assorted junk. Cherry embarrassingly muttered a cleansing spell, getting rid of the worst of the grime before she pulled Zerrex to the bed, and the reptile softened a bit as they simply sat down side-by-side and she murmured: "I hope you don't mind, but I had a message sent up to Tinny in Heaven. Told him to keep an eye on Albatross and Balthazar and shit... you know, the few angels we know and care about. I'd ask Raze too, but for one thing he scares me and for another I'm pretty fucking sure that whether or not he gives a rat's ass about their lives, he also gets meaner than me when something threatens you."

"Why is everyone so scared of him?" Zerrex looked amusedly at Cherry, and she only gave him and entertained grin in return. "You worked with him before, Cherry, you know he's not such a bad guy."

"He is the definition of a bad guy, Zerrex." Cherry nudged him with her shoulder, then she leaned over and kissed his cheek quietly, murmuring: "But I know, I know, stop being such a fucking Protective Pete or whatever."

Zerrex rolled his eyes at this, but before he could chastise her again, she reached up and pushed a finger to his lips, saying mildly: "Shut up, I ain't done talking here yet. Pretty lady Maria also told me about this Theophilius dude you ran into in the Unworld... and about how you encountered some fuck-nut Strange Beast. From everything I'm gathering, a lot of shit is hitting the fan all at once, and we've barely begun to scratch the surface of what's going on... and since I don't want to see things going down the way everything went down in the past, with you being... with bad shit happening to you..." Cherry glanced away for a moment, then returned her eyes to him, saying quietly: "I was thinking we should assemble some kind of... emergency team or call list or something."

"I can summon most of you guys just by concentrating hard enough." Zerrex replied mildly, tilting his head towards her, but she grunted and reached out to prod him firmly between the eyes, making him grimace.

"Most of the time, yeah, but what if something fucks up your powers or your concentration or some shit? I mean, hell, a lot of the old-school demons like Sabnock even have special... summoning thingies. And that babe on earth, Mary Silverwind, she once summoned you with a summoning circle, too!" Cherry added helpfully, and Zerrex looked at her thoughtfully for a moment before she winked. "Come on, it's a good idea, and you damn well know it. And while our collars can all... alarm us if shit is hitting the fan and shit, there's not always gonna be someone around to send us a signal... and worse, you're not always gonna tell us when everything is going to hell, you asshole."

"Cherry, how the hell are you going to tell when I'm in trouble or when I need help?" Zerrex asked dubiously, and the female looked at him thoughtfully, then grumbled a bit as the lizard added dryly: "Also, every goddamn time I die I end up coming back anyway. So why does that even matter?"

"Don't be such a morbid bitch." Cherry shoved at him firmly, and Zerrex snorted in amusement as he rocked to the side before she grabbed him and shoved him down on the bed, straddling him and rubbing her hands along his chest slowly. The Drakkaren smiled a bit up at her, but she only gazed down softly, keeping him pinned as she murmured quietly: "I don't want to lose you again, Boss. Fuck, every time you're away from us, things fall apart."

"The center does not hold, all things collapse." Zerrex murmured, and then he smiled a bit when she cocked her head towards him curiously. "Sorry, Anathema's got me reading poetry now. You know how she is."

"Yeah. Crazy." Cherry grunted, and then she smiled a little as she rubbed her hands slowly along the male's chest. "Ain't a bad metaphor for us, though. When you ain't there, things go to hell. I think it's 'cause we're all such opposin' personalities and shit... but maybe it's also 'cause ain't none of us much of a leader. I mean, you aren't either, sure..." She grinned teasingly, poking at his chest as the lizard rolled his eyes in dry amusement. "But at least you damn well try. Ain't none of us can even do that. 'Cept maybe for Anathema Sin... she was the only one holding it together last time shit hit the fan, after all."

She stopped, then smiled a little, saying quietly: "Rings, I'm thinkin'. Or maybe coins, like way back when you had the rebels carry enchanted gold coins. Tell me, Boss, why did the currency switch to silver, anyway?"

"Because most of the mineable metal in Hell is silver." Zerrex replied mildly, and Cherry looked at him curiously at this. "Silver ore is all over the place here. Here, there, beneath your feet. Hell doesn't have nearly the same composition as the mortal world... and economics, too, I guess. It's not like gold coins are extinct, they're just worth a lot more. Kind of like we gave every demon back then who had some gold coins a big payday. Messed things up for a little while but it smoothed out after only a century or so."

Cherry smiled a bit, rubbing along his chest slowly before she said quietly: "Well, anyway, you butt-nut. Rings or coins or tokens or something. And I'd like 'em to be programmed so that any time you're in trouble, they ding or some shit. What I'd really like is if they could be programmed to different levels or some shit... you know, 'oh poopy,' 'oh crap,' 'oh shit,' and 'oh holy fuck' levels. 'Cause gods know it would be embarrassing if some dumbass was trying to mug you and all thirty something of us Disciples showed up."

"I don't have that many Disciples anymore, I don't think." Zerrex said quietly, and Cherry softened a bit before she slid off him as he wiggled a bit, then the male stood up and the muscular female reached out and rubbed a hand along his arm slowly. "Anyway. I'll hesitantly approve of your idea, but have either Ixin or Mercy do the charms, you know, someone who knows what they're doing. And for the trial basis, let's give them to only a few of my Disciples. Maybe you and Cindy and Marina for starters."

"It... it always means... you know. A lot... that you always give us first pick." Cherry looked up at him with a bit of a blush, and Zerrex grinned slightly at her before he wheezed when she growled and kicked him hard in the ass, the cape fluttering as it absorbed some of the blow. "Fucking hell, you can eat my ass, I'm trying to be nice here!"

Zerrex grumbled, then turned around and kicked her childishly in the shin, and Cherry squawked as she grabbed this and glared back at the reptile. Then the two smiled awkwardly at one-another before Cherry cocked her head and asked: "So Boss, is it like. Epiphany's birthday or some shit soon?"

Zerrex nodded after a moment, smiling a little as he said quietly: "Yeah. All things considered, we might hold it here in Acheron... at least the first part of the festivities, the gift-giving and such. It sounds like most of the family and everyone will be here, after all..."

Cherry nodded back, then rubbed at her face slowly and smiled a little up at him, saying quietly: "I think she'd like that, Boss. And hey, I can totally go and get a cake or some shit from the mortal world if you want. I think they got stores and bakeries and... ice cream shops running there now."

The Drakkaren laughed a bit at this, nodding slowly before he murmured as he gazed towards the ceiling: "Yeah, I know. It's... good, isn't it?"

"It is... so I don't get why you seem so worried." Cherry said softly, and Zerrex looked at her quietly as she gazed back with a strange gentility in her eyes. "Ain't none of what happened before your fault... and we're not gonna let some freaky-ass blasts from the past evict us out of our own damn home. After Athéos, I think everyone learned a whole lot about working together... except Heaven, of course, but that's only because the Council is a giant stick up its collective ass."

The reptile grunted at this, nodding after a moment before he headed for the doorway... and then he wheezed when Cherry hugged him firmly around the waist and lifted him into the air, saying cheerfully: "So stop all this worrying and shit! We're gonna be just fine, you hear me?"

"I hate you." Zerrex wheezed, and Cherry laughed before she dropped him and reached a hand up to ruffle the reptile's ivory hair, making him glower before he glared over his shoulder at her. She only looked back innocently for a moment, however, then booted him firmly in the ass and knocked him staggering into the hall, the lizard pinwheeling his arms for balance.

"Now stay out, I need to glue some macaroni on a card or some shit so Epiphany knows I care." Cherry said pompously, and then she slammed the door shut. Zerrex rolled his eyes at this, reaching up and smoothing down his hair grumpily, and then he winced when she yanked the door open again and peered out, whispering loudly: "Do I... do I treat her like she's nine or like she's eighteen?"

"Why don't you do both, Cherry?" Zerrex asked flatly, and the female grinned widely before the reptile slapped his forehead, muttering: "Please don't ruin her party."

"Oh fuck you." Cherry grumbled, and then she slammed the door shut again before Zerrex rolled his eyes before he concentrated and vanished from the spot, reappearing a moment later in front of one of the large residences used by visitors. He grimaced a bit, putting his hands in the center of his back and cracking it as vertigo swam in front of his eyes - likely from overusing his ability to phase around this dimension instead of just walking - and then he shook his head quickly as his mind finally cleared.

Cherry... he smiled a little thinking about her. So boisterous, obnoxious, downright goddamn vulgar and rude... but loving, too, and loyal, and protective, and strong. She would die to save him... and not only him, but the rest of his family, too. And even if she conflicted so often with everyone around her, acted like a sex object, and refused to eat with anything other than her hands, she was a better person at heart than he was.

He smiled a bit as he walked towards the residence hall, letting himself in and raising a hand to the security officer behind the counter, who immediately leapt to attention and saluted. He and Cherry had their differences, it was true; and even now they argued now and then, or yelled at each other, or flailed childishly and complained about how annoying the other person was. But they were good together, too: they got along well, and they protected each other. And even though he knew Cherry wasn't entirely pleased with the fact Zerrex wasn't having sex with her as often - in fact, he wasn't having sex with anyone quite as often these days, and despite what his Disciples might think, it frustrated the hell out of him, too - he also knew she saw him as more than some play-master. She saw him as her father, her Captain, her King, her God: she worshipped him in a literal sense as much as a figurative, even when she was hiding it behind her obnoxious grin and her awful one-liners.

Zerrex walked down the hall, grimacing a bit as he rubbed absently at his stomach: the sex issue, of course, was a problem not just with her but with his other Disciples as well. But it honestly made him nervous these days... one of his roots was in Fertility, after all, and it meant he had an excessive magnetism, especially over those close to him... but the high emotions that came out during sex often caused him to lose control a little. And the more primal he became, the more he gave into his urges, the more likely it was that he would Invert. Much as he loved sex... as lustful as he could become... it was better that he resisted the temptation as much as possible and instead, when he felt he had to release, go to some quiet place.

"Of course, masturbating in space has a certain charm about it." Zerrex muttered to himself mildly, as he walked down the corridor, and then he paused at an open door and leaned inside, glancing back and forth into the open, single room apartment to see a female with her back to him, busily rooting through her suitcase. "Jeannine?"

The wolf glanced over her shoulder in surprise, and then she scowled at him a bit as she crossed her arms and turned around to sit down on the bed, saying flatly: "I expected something a little higher-class than this."

Zerrex smiled amusedly despite himself, walking over the varnished wooden floor and into the bachelor apartment: it was a wide square of space, built for Dragokkaren twice the size of Jeannine to live comfortably inside, and had the large bed in one corner and a couch against the side wall. A lantern hung from the ceiling, blue flames flickering quietly inside it and casting a quiet, comfortable light over the room as the female said quietly: "So you and Breeze had a little talk, did you?"

"I wasn't going to pretend I didn't know." Zerrex walked over to the couch and sat down in it with a grunt, the cape fluttering around him as the lizard absently adjusted it up behind his back to avoid sitting on it. "Where is she? Out with your brothers?"

"Brother." Jeannine said icily, and Zerrex simply looked at her for a few moments before she sighed and looked away, putting her face in her hands. "Yes, she wanted to sightsee around Acheron. I decided that it's probably safe enough here by myself for the moment... and of course, it'd be nice to know the layout. She has a knack for learning landscapes and escape routes quickly, it's part of the reason I hired her in the first place."

Zerrex nodded after a moment, and then he closed his eyes and concentrated... but he couldn't sense the energy signatures of the female Dragokkaren or the lupines nearby, meaning they were probably on the far side of Acheron by now. "Do you want some company?"

"No, I'll be fine on my own, thank you." Jeannine replied calmly, although she looked a little surprised at the offer. Zerrex grunted as he stood up, and then the female wolf slowly drew her eyes over him before saying quietly: "They worship you here."

"A little." Zerrex smiled a bit over at her, shrugging and rubbing at his chest slowly. "I'm a god, yeah. And a lot of Dragokkaren... especially the ones who were in Hell at the time of the Princess's rule, who... learned the story from rumor or legends passed down through the various Hez'Rannan clans and sects of how she was the Goddess and I 'freed them from oppression...' well... they think I'm some kind of Hez'Rannan deity or savior." He stopped, glancing away and murmuring: "I don't think that's true at all, though. I'm no savior. And in some ways, their worship... bothers me at times. But I can't go and squelch their beliefs, either. Tried that once or twice, just made things a lot worse. Because yes, I did kill the Goddess. Yes, I am a god. Yes, I did help restore the planet to life."

"So much power." Jeannine looked at him bitterly, and Zerrex frowned a bit before she shook her head and said quietly: "Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Look at my father, Tobias Wulfe. Arguably, he was more powerful than you'll ever be... when he was alive, he was rich, calculating, had the seventh-highest tested IQ in Ire and it was long after most of the mortal world stopped believing in Heaven and Hell and long before they would be proven to exist as fact. He lived during an era where money and ruthlessness were power... and he had more cash and more cruelty than anyone else I know."

"And at the end of the day, he was destroyed by it." Zerrex replied quietly, glancing down at his right hand and flexing it slowly as the female frowned and tilted her head. "His tower in Lunis was an architectural marvel. And yet he was never satisfied with it. He always wanted more, I saw that in his eyes the moment I saw him for the first time. His sins warped him long before he arrived in Hell... and he was killed by his own son. Lone and Mahihko... but I'm sure you've seen that story, haven't you?"

"I watched it over, and over, and over again." Jeannine said coldly, and she smiled nastily, making Zerrex grimace a bit at the resemblance to her father he saw in that expression. This is not a female I would want to be on the bad side of. "Yes, I liked seeing Ewwy Wally hurt. And I liked to watch Tobias get hurt even more. I'm not stupid, after all... I know that if Tobias hadn't been such a fucking monster, Lone never would have been anything more than a bumbling, arrogant jerk, not the bastard he was to me and to mom and to the rest of the world at large, too. And I guess...

"I guess if I had to choose the ending, they die, he died, everyone died... I don't think I would have asked for anything different." Jeannine's expression softened a little as she gazed at Zerrex for a moment, then a blush rose in her cheeks as she glanced away embarrassedly, rubbing slowly at her face. "Maybe even then I had started to forgive him. He did awful things to me but... but it was all because of Tobias. And he was trying to make up for it... they both were, really."

She sighed a bit, shaking her head slowly, then she smiled hesitantly at Zerrex. "I'm not going to treat him nice, and I'm not going to sugarcoat my words or even be any less of a bitch. But I guess I do have to thank him for this, and I do have to thank you. I just... am nervous around authority figures. Especially male authority figures, with such power, like yourself." She looked at him evenly, and then shook her head slowly, murmuring quietly: "Even Tobias must have once possessed a soul. It just seems that when people get too much power, they become just like him."

Zerrex was silent, then he stood up and rubbed at his chest slowly, saying quietly: "Well, we both have daddy-issues, Jeannine. My father was a lot like yours, except he liked to kill people instead of putting them out on the street. What helps keep me... sane... I find, is the fact that despite what everyone thinks of me... whether they revile me or think I'm some invulnerable god or they worship me or... whatever... it's the fact that I have so many weaknesses. So many flaws. And a mortal with the right tools could easily take me down if they had balls enough to go through with it."

He laughed a bit, shaking his head slowly, then he smiled a little over at Jeannine as she looked up at him quietly. "Listen, if you need anything, just ask, okay? Anything at all."

"What can kill you, Zerrex?" she asked quietly, and then smiled thinly when the reptile looked at her with surprise. "You said if I needed anything, to ask. I need to know this. I'll feel safer."

For a few long moments the Drakkaren hesitated... and then he finally said quietly: "Alcohol, for one. It's a fun poison to most people but to me it's more of an acidic poison. Crushing black roses can hurt me and interrupt my concentration, and anything coated in black rose petals or nectar from it will piece my scales." He stopped, but Jeannine only continued to look at him calmly, and the Drakkaren smiled wryly. "Pretty much anything from Hez'Ranna hurts me, Jeannine, it's not very hard. And obviously Mahihko and Lone are going to be around you a lot. Hurt my Disciples, you hurt me."

"Maybe that's what Tobias was missing then. People he actually cared about." Jeannine muttered, and she looked away for a moment before nodding and glancing at the Drakkaren. But she was only silent, and the reptile looked back and finally nodded to her before he turned and left, quietly pulling the door most of the way closed on his way out.

He stood for a few moments in the hall, then sighed a bit as the cape spilled around him, covering his body like a cloak as he looked down silently. It seemed to pull itself closer, as if trying to comfort him... but the reptile felt other, old worries surfacing as they often did, and he only shook his head a bit before walking silently down the corridor and making his way back out of the residential building, deciding to wander Acheron and see if he could at least get his mind off things, one way or the other.